i.i  HRAK  Y 

i>r  mi-: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA, 


•Accessions  No.tf£/£s  CA/ss  No. 


The  French  in  America 


War  of  Independence  of  the  United  States 

1777-1783. 


A   TRANSLATION    BY 

EDWIN    SWIFT    BALCH 

AND 

ELISE   WILLING    BALCH, 
> 

OF 

LES  FRANCAIS  EN  AMERIQUE 


PENDANT   LA 


Guerre  de  L'Independance  des  Etats-Unis. 


THOMAS    BALCH. 


VOL.  II. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER  &  COATES. 

1895. 


Copyright,  1895,  by  Edwin  Swift  Bakh. 


TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE. 


MY  father  intended  to  publish  the  second  volume  of  "  Les 
Francais  en  Amerique  "  in  France,  but  after  he  had  received 
the  proofs  from  the  printer,  he  decided  not  to  do  so,  because, 
as  he  says  in  the  preface :  "  I  received  for  the  second  part 
so  large  a  number  of  interesting  communications  that  I  have 
found  myself  obliged  to  add  to  my  finished  manuscript." 
He  purposed  also  rewriting  some  of  the  biographical  notices. 

The  present  volume  is  a  translation  from  these  proofs,  with 
the  addition  of  the  numerous  manuscript  notes  in  the  margin. 
Most  of  these  notes  are  in  my  father's  handwriting.  These 
I  have  inserted  as  notes,  with  the  explanation  :  "  Marginal 
note  by  T.  B."  A  few  other  notes  were  added  in  a  revision 
of  the  book  made  at  the  "  Archives"  of  the  French  Xavy. 
These  I  have  inserted  a.s  notes,  with  the  explanation  :  "  Mar 
ginal  note."  My  one  aim  in  translating  has  been  accuracy. 
I  have  been  as  literal  as  possible,  and  have  tried  to  get  the 
absolute  meaning  of  every  sentence. 

The  references,  Archive*  of  War  or  Archives  of  the  Navy, 
refer  to  the  French  Archives. 

The  ranks  of  marechal  de  aunp,  brigadier,  and  mcxtre  <lc 
camp  occur  frequently  in  the  course  of  the  book.  These  were 
ranks  in  the  French  armv  before  the  French  Revolution,  of 
which  we  have  no  exact  counterparts  in  Knglish.  M.  Littre 
gives  the  following  explanations  about  them  in  his  dictionary  : 
Marfahal  dc.  camp  :  general  officer,  whose  rank  is  immediately 
above  that  of  colonel,  and  who  corresponds  to  the  rank  of  gen 
eral  of  brigade.  Formerly,  their  office  was  to  march  ahead  of 
the  armies  to  make  sure  of  the  road  and  arrange  the  camps. 
Brigadier:  officer  in  the  armies  of  the  King,  whose  rank  was 

(iii) 


iv  Translator's  Note. 

between  that  of  a  colonel  and  a  marechal  de  camp.  Mestre  de 
camp :  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  infantry  or  cavalry.  Mestre  de 
camp  general  de  la  cavalerie:  officer  who  ranked  next  to  the 
colonel-general  of  the  cavalry.  The  livre  was  a  piece  of  money 
in  use  before  the  franc,  and  slightly  less  in  value. 

To  the  names  of  the  kind  friends  of  my  father,  mentioned 
in  the  "Translator's  Note"  to  the  first  volume,  I  wish  to  add 
those  of  General  of  Artillery  Susane ;  General  Fave,  com 
mandant  of  the  "  ecole  polytechnique "  and  aid-de-camp  of 
Napoleon  the  Third ;  M.  de  Parieu ;  and  Friedrich  Kapp, 
member  of  the  German  Reichstag. 

EDWIN  SWIFT  BALCH. 


PHILADELPHIA,  May  1st,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGES. 
Introduction     1_4 


List  of  Koginicnts   ...................        .")-;>  S 


List  of  Officers 


THE  FRENCH  IN  AMERICA 

DURING 

THE  WAR  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


THE  list  of  the  French  regiments  and  officers  who  crossed 
to  America  during  the  War  of  Independence  is  presented  in 
this  part  of  my  work  for  the  first  time  in  as  exact  and  com 
plete  a  manner  as  possible.  The  list  of  the  regiments  presents 
no  gaps,  but  it  is  not  possible  that  it  should  be  so  with  the 
list  of  the  officers,  for  the  preparation  of  which  official  doc 
uments  either  are  wanting  or  are  filled  with  errors.  A  lew 
detailed  remarks  will  explain  the  difficulties  which  I  have 
encountered  in  my  researches  for  the  compilation  of  the  bio 
graphical  notices. 

In  all  the  memoirs  of  the  time  you  often  find  the  name  of 
one  and  the  same  person  written  in  several  ways,  so  that  you 
are  at  first  led  to  believe  in  the  existence  of  several  officers 
where  in  truth  there  is  but  one.  In  other  cases,  the  same  of 
ficer  bears  several  names,  and  is  designated  sometimes  bv  one, 
sometimes  by  another,  or  perhaps  he  changes  his  name  dur 
ing  the  course  of  his  career.  Again,  to  a  few  names  are 
adapted  titles  of  nobility  entirely  fictitious  or  quite  in  disaccord 
with  the  rules  of  lieraldrv. 

For  instance,  the  Count  de  Bo/on  is  indifferently  called 
Bo/on,  or  de  Talleyrand,  or  de  Perigord,  titles  which  in  truth 
belonged  to  him. 

The  Count  de  Sainte-Mesme,  also  called  de  Saint-Maime, 
was  known  a  few  years  after  the  American  expedition  only 


2  The  French  in  America. 

by  the  title  of  Count  du  Muy,  which  he  inherited  from  his 
uncle.  The  same  observation  applies  to  the  Duke  de  Lauzun, 
who  became  Duke  de  Gontaut-Biron. 

De  Chastellux  is  spoken  of  sometimes  as  Chevalier,  some 
times  as  Marquis,  which  would  lead  to  the  belief  that  there 
were  two  officers  of  this  name,  while  there  was  but  one. 

To  make  amends  for  this,  there  were  two  Yiomenil,  and 
while  the  older  is  called  Baron,  his  brother  receives  more  often 
the  title  of  Viscount  than  that  of  Chevalier. 

The  three  Lameths  are  generally  confounded  under  the 
unique  designation  of  Chevalier  de  Lameth.  Only  an  atten 
tive  examination  of  the  facts  has  permitted  me  to  distinguish 
between  them,  and  to  accord  to  each  the  share  of  merit  that 
belongs  to  him. 

Count  Mathieu  Dunias  becomes  Du  Mas  in  the  Memoirs  of 
Lauzun ;  de  Leaumont  is  written  Lomont  in  the  Journal  of 
Cromot  Dubourg;  Choiseul  is  put  in  place  of  Choisy  in  the 
Memoirs  of  Rochambeau,  and  so  on  for  many  more. 

Without  dwelling  farther  on  this  point  I  will  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  if  I  have  found  some  difficulties  in  recogniz 
ing  the  important  personages  under  their  multiplied  or  disfig 
ured  names,  or  under  their  inexact  or  variable  titles,  it  has 
been  still  more  laborious  for  me  to  make  this  discrimination 
for  the  officers  of  an  inferior  rank. 

The  Etats  Militaires  from  1777  to  1783,  which  I  have 
studied,  present  in  this  respect  the  most  shocking  inexactitudes  ; 
the  names  there  are  so  altered  that  they  often  mislead  the  re 
searches  of  the  historian  instead  of  facilitating  them.  In  the 
impossibility  which  I  found  of  rectifying  them  all,  I  have  con 
tented  myself  in  working  out  lists  of  the  officers,  following 
after  the  notices  on  the  regiments,  from  the  fitats  Militaires, 
and  indicating  as  often  as  possible  the  probable  rectifications  j1 

1  General  of  Artillery  Susane  has  published,  from  a  different  point 
of  view,  an  interesting  and  remarkable  work,  IRstoire  de  I'ancienne  in- 
fanterie  francaise,  Paris,  1853.  8  vole.,  awe  atlas. 


Introduction.  3 

then,  in  the  biographical  notices,  I  have  followed  the  more 
certain  indications  of  the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of  War  or 
those  of  the  original  documents  in  my  possession. 

My  researches  in  this  direction  have  caused  me  to  discover 
unexpected  names,  which  have  since  reappeared  with  distinc 
tion  in  the  events  of  this  century.  It  is  thus  that,  without 
speaking  of  La  Fayette,  de  Segur,  de  Rochanibeau,  de  Noailles, 
de  Broglie,  de  Saint  Simon,  de  Mirabeau,  de  Lameth,  and 
many  others  to  whom  their  birth  assured  a  high  social  position, 
I  have  found  and  been  able  to  follow  the  trace  of  the  Berthiers, 
of  de  Menou,  Miollis,  Dumas,  Gantheaurae,  Truguet,  Pichegru, 
MacMahon,  and  many  others,  who,  unknown  when  they  per 
formed  their  first  military  service  in  America,  afterwards  be 
came  celebrated  among  their  countrymen. 

It  has,  unfortunately,  not  always  been  possible  for  me  to 
procure  precise  information  about  the  conduct  during  the 
war  of  these  personages,  as  nothing  had  as  yet  brought  them 
to  public  notice.  But  my  investigations  have  sometimes 
borne  fruit,  and  I  have  the  hope  that  I  shall  have  furnished 
to  biographers  and  historians  useful  information.  It  also 
seemed  to  me  interesting  to  follow  to  the  end  of  their  career, 
these  men  whom  a  generous  impulse  had  brought,  in  their 
youth,  to  the  succor  of  the  revolted  colonies.  I  have  thus 
been  led  to  complete  a  few  biographical  notices,  written  at  first 
only  with  reference  to  the  expedition  of  17S()-s-'>. 

It  will  be  noticed,  in  looking  over  the  list  of  the  officers 
attached  to  the  army  of  Rochanibeau,  that  the  decorations  and 
the  pensions  were  accorded  for  the  most  part  to  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais,  later  Royal-Auvergne,  and  to  that  of  Deux-Ponts. 
They  were,  in  truth,  the  regiments  that  were  ordered  to  cap 
ture  the  great  English  redoubt  during  the  night  of  the  14th 
of  October,  1781,  and  the  ones  who  thus  contributed  most  to 
the  capture  of  Yorktown.  They  lost  also  the  largest  num 
ber  of  men  during  the  campaign. 

The  legion  of  Lauzun  did  not  receive  any  gratification,  nor, 


4  The  French  in  America. 

as  they  said  then,  any  grdce.  Its  chief  had  lost  all  favor  at 
court,  and  the  important  services  which  this  army  corps  had 
rendered  during  the  whole  campaign  were  unworthily  forgot 
ten.  Neither  the  names  of  the  officers,  nor  even  the  name  of 
the  legion,  appear  in  any  way  in  the  &ats  Militaires  from  1777 
to  1783.  This  probably  was  due  to  the  fact  that  this  corps 
was  paid  from  the  funds  of  the  navy,  and  was  classed  among 
the  forces  of  the  navy. 

The  legions  were  mixed  corps,  composed  of  infantry  and 
cavalry. 

But  little  attention,  moreover,  was  paid  to  acquired  rights 
and  to  merit  at  the  Court  of  Versailles,  where  everything  was 
at  the  discretion  of  the  favorites  of  the  day.  I  have  been  able 
to  convince  myself  that  the  promotion  of  the  officers  was  due 
to  an  arbitrary  will  or  to  intrigue.  While  a  soldier  of  some 
value  could  not  reach  the  grade  of  petty  officer  until  after 
twenty  years  of  service,  the  nobles  obtained  at  once  this  title, 
and  could  become  colonels  in  less  than  four  years.  A  few  of 
them  became  lieutenants  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  like  Chastel- 
lux,  or  even  at  nine,  like  Custine.  They  left  their  regiments, 
traveled  according  to  their  fancy,  even  carried  on  regular  war 
where  it  pleased  them,  without  troubling  themselves  about  the 
functions  that  were  attributed  to  their  rank.2  Their  advance 
ment  was  not  retarded  on  that  account ;  they  found,  if  nec 
essary,  on  their  return,  a  place  as  qfficier  reformed  But  talent 
and  courage  were  of  small  weight  in  the  scale  of  royal  favors. 

2  See  Vol.  I.,  page  96,   and  also  Extrait  du  Journal  d'un   officier    dc 
marine  sous  Us  ordres  de  d'Estaing,  Paris,  1782. 

3  Ojfficiers  reformes  were  those  who  were  serving  away  from  their  own 
regiments  while  waiting  for  a  vacancy.    They  were  the  officiers  a  la  suite 
of  to-day. 


LIST   OF  THE  FBEKCH  EEGIMEHTS 
WHICH  SERVED  IN  AMERICA  FROM  1777  TO  1783. 

AGftXOIS. 

The  first  and  second  battalions  of  this  regiment  were  sent 
to  Cape  Francais,  Saint  Domingo,  and  remained  there  from 
1777  to  1783.  In  1781  they  crossed  to  the  continent  with 
the  regiment  of  Touraine,  under  the  command  of  the  Mar 
quis  de  Saint-Simon,  to  take  part  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 
They  had  previously  fought  before  Savannah  in  1779  under 
d'Estaing,  and  had  distinguished  themselves  at  the  capture 
of  Saint  Christopher  with  the  same  admiral. 

These  two  battalions  were  taken  back  to  Martinique  by 
de  Grasse,  between  the  4th  and  the  2Gth  of  November,  1781. 

In   1777  their  stall'  was  composed  as  follows: — 

Colonel- Command  (intj 
The  Baron  de  Cadignan. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
•The  Count  de  Crillon. 

Lieutenant-  ( "oloncl, 
Rayne  de  Cantis. 

J/q/or, 
Dcsdorides. 

(5) 


6  The  French  in  America. 

In  1779  their  staff  was  thus  modified: — 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The  Chevalier  Dulan  d'Allemans. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
Dupleix  de  Cadignan. 

Major, 
The  Chevalier  de  Saguarigue. 

Paymaster, 

Barres. 
In   1780  I  find  :— 

Colonel-  Commandant, 
The  Count  d'Autichamp. 
The  rest  as  above. 

In   1781  Paymaster  Barres  was    replaced    by  Deriot,   then 
by  Berruet,  and   the  major  was  de  Rommefort,  or  Rumfort. 
The  other  officers  were : — 

Captains-  Commandants  : 
De  Terson,  L'Espes, 

De  Lustrac,  Saint-Germain, 

De  Bchagle  or  Behague,          Bourguisson, 
De  La  Rochecoquet,  Ch.   d'Ypres, 

Richard,  Desbarry.4 

Captains  en  Second: 

Ch.   Dianous,  Ch.  de  la  Villebrune, 

Desmarets,  De  Soyres, 

De  Marrans,  Caumont, 

De   Caire,  Feydeau. 

De  la  Corbiere, 

4  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :   Iinbert  de  Barry. 


List  of  Regiments. 

First  Lieutenants: 

De  Cauville,  Saint-Sauveur, 

Ch.  d'Imbert,  La  Conssaye, 

Drouilhet,  Latour, 

Trauroux,  L'ftcotay. 
De  Najac, 

Second  Lieutenants  : 

Pioling,  Gineste, 

Dasnieres,  Le  Houx, 

La  Landelle,  De  Mazelier, 

D'lloiuletot  de  Colomby,  Pignol  de  Rocreuse, 

Do  Voi.sins,  Du  Bouzet. 


Sub-Lieutenant 


Pujol,  DC  la  Forgerie, 

Lacroix,  Marcussy, 

Parfouru,  Ijonioux, 

Do  Brugc,  Chaussepied, 

Bcssonay,  Lavuutte, 

Montaigut,  ^lorroigo, 

Fa  has,  Gotizie, 

Coquet,  De  Month  m«r, 

Drouillant,  Leaumont  or  Laumont.5 

ANHALT. 

This  regiment,  which  originally  was  intended  to  form  part 
of  the  army  of  Rochambeau,  had  to  remain  at  Brest,  owing 
to  the  lack  of  transports,  and  did  not  cross  to  America. 
The  same  thing  happened  to  the  regiment  of  Neustrie,  and 
to  half  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais. 


6 See  in   the   List  of  Officers:    Blaiulat,  Bouillet,  Deidier,  Kermaivc, 
I/'Oiiurdy,  Yrcsoseer. 


8  The  French  in  America. 

ARMAGNAC. 

This  regiment  was  sent  to  Guadeloupe  in  1777,  but  did 
not  cross  to  the  continent.  In  1780  and  1781  it  was  com 
manded  as  follows  : — 

Colonel, 
The  Marquis  de  Livarot. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
De  Montval. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
Feydeau  de  Saint  Christophe. 

Major, 
The  Chevalier  de  Rostaing. 

Paymaster, 
Dufosse". 

Captains : 

De  la  Garde,  De  Tarragon, 

Boulland,  D'Armentieres, 

De  Fresne,  Ville, 

Marin,  Servilange. 

Lieutenants : 

De  Roquefeuille,  Londeix  de  la  Brosse, 

De  la  Chaussee,  De  la  Ferte. 

Saint  Martin, 

Further  on  I  give  biographical  notices  of  those  officers  who 
crossed  to  the  American  continent  to  take  part  in  the  siege 
of  Savannah  and  who  fought  with  their  regiment  at  Tabago, 
Saint  Christopher,  Saint  Lucia,  and  Dominica.6 

6  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Bosnier  de  Saint  Cosme,  Escury,  Fou- 
quet,  Grillieres,  Lecomte. 


List  of  Regiments.  9 

ARTILLERY  AND  ENGINEERS. 

After  carefully  examining  the  £tats  Militaires  from  1777  to 
1783,  I  find  that  the  corps  of  these  departments  which  crossed 
to  America  daring  that  period  were  : — 

REGIMENT   OF   METZ. 

Two  of  the  ten  companies  of  the  first  battalion  and  the 
entire  second  battalion. 

The  positions  were  filial  as  follows  : — 

Colonel, 

De  Faultrier,   replaced  at  the  time  of  Rochanibeau's 
departure  for  America  by  d'Aboville. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
De  Gimel. 

Major, 
De  la  Barriere. 

CJiiefo  of  Brigade  : 

De  Missolz,  De  Villicrs, 

La  Borde,  La   Barrc  de  (Jarov. 

De  Grand  court, 

Aide- Major, 
Vernier. 

Paymaster, 
Chapel  le. 

( Captains : 

De  Mauroy,  La  Doaillere, 

De   Laborie,  Maigrct, 

Durand,  Turgot, 


10  The  French  in  America. 

Calage,  Pelletier  de  Glatigny, 

Rotalier,  Lefevre  de  Givry, 

Tardy  de  Montravcl,  Dupuy, 

Olry  de  Valsen,  Burtin, 

De  Vulmont,  Bruxel  de  Sancy, 

De  Beaudre,  Launaguet, 

Dubuat,  Berthier. 

Captains  en  Second  (detached) : 
Greville,  at  Saint  Domingo ; 
De  Peccault,  at  Martinique; 
Mauduit-Duplesis,  volunteer  to  America  ; 
Vatry,  at  Guadeloupe; 
Douenne,  at  Guadeloupe. 

First  Lieutenants: 

Prevost,  Jupilles, 

Marsilly,  Le  Blanc  d'Eguilly, 

Olivier,  Songis, 

Douay,  Blaize, 

Duchat  d'Aubigne,  Gimel, 

Semecourt,  Duglacy, 

Durand  de  Gevigny,  Belgrand. 
Drozain, 

Second  Lieutenants : 

Sucy  d'Auteuil,  De  Mestre, 

Peyrelongue,  La  Pierre, 

Caussanel,  Duroz, 

Dupuch,  Gou  plain, 

Marieulle,  Vernier, 

Neuvy,  Legrain, 

Gervais,  Humbert, 

Pelletier  de  Voilemont,  Goffard, 

Sance,  Pecqueux, 

Durand,  Contossct. 
De  Faultrier, 


List  of  Regiments.  11 

REGIMENT  OF   AUXOXXE. 

Only  the  second  battalion  of  this  regiment  crossed  to 
America. 

Chiefs  of  Brigade : 
Nadal,  I)e  Buzelet. 

Captains: 

De  Xcuris,  Dufort, 

Dupuy,  De  Boisloger. 

Josserand, 

Lieutenants  : 

De  Jumecourt,  De  Yerton, 

La  Martiniere,  Berthier, 

De  Pnsignan,  Tardy  de  la  Brosse. 

D'Andreossy, 

Savournin,  captain  en  second  of  the  regiment  of  Grenoble, 
was  detached  to  America  to  join  the  corps  of  Rochambeau. 

Chanteclair,  captain  en  second  of  the  regiment  of  Strasbourg, 
was  detached  to  Saint  Domingo.7 

CORPS  OF  MIXERS. 

The  company  of  Dnpnch  was  sent  to  America  in  1780 
with  the  expeditionary  corps. 

Captain  en  Premier, 
Dupuch. 

Captain  en  Second, 
Reimes. 

First  Lieutena  n to, 

De  Corbeau,  Yaiiriou. 

Second  Lieutenant, 
I,e  Roy. 

Of  the  company  of  de  Xoyremand,  Captain  de  Xey remand 
and  Captain  CH  Second  La  Che/e  were  sent. 


7  See  in  the  Li.st  of  Ollicers :  I*arolier,  Bellanger,  Lazie,  Logo. 


12  The  French  in  America. 

Of  the  company  of  de  Chazel  two   detachments  were  with 
the  army  of  Rochambeau. 

Of  the   company  of   Barbariri,  forty  men   were   in    Marti 
nique.8 

ROYAL  CORPS  OF  ENGINEERS. 

Colonels : 

Labbe"  de  Talsy,  at  Guadeloupe,  in  1777  ; 
Geoffroy  de  Bourget,  at  Martinique. 

Under-Brigadier, 
Taverne  de  Bois-Forest,  at  Saint  Dominica. 

Colonels  : 

Desandroins,  commandant  of  the  artillery  and  of  the  engineers 

of  the  corps  of  Count  de  Rochambeau,  in  1780; 

Querenet  de  la  Combe,  in  1782. 

Under- Brigadier, 
Beylie,  attached  to  the  same  corps. 

Majors: 

Palys  de  Montrepos,  attached  to  the  same  corps ; 
Deshautschamps,  attached  to  the  same  corps. 

Captains : 

Ch.  d'Oyre,  Gouvion,  Sr., 

Garavaque  or  Caravagne,  Dubois  de  Crance, 

De  Turpin,  De  La  Lustiere, 

Laffite  du  Courteil,  D'Abadie, 

Bonnet,  De  Prades, 

Guerin  de  Fonsin,  Crublier  d'Opterre  or  d'Au- 
Saint-Julien,  beterre, 

De  Laurnoy,  Blet  de  Villeneuve, 

Briinck  de   Friindeck,  Girard  de  Chantrant. 


8 Mr.  Barbarin,  the  artist,  has  given  me  some  details  about  his  fam 
ily.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Regiments.  13 

Lieutenants : 

Chevalier  de  Soalhat,  De  Fontalard, 

Bouan,  Rapine  de  Saxi, 

Planchet,  Chaussegros  de  Lery.9 

EMPLOYED  ix  THE  COLONIES. 

Captains  : 

Cantel  d'Aneteville,  at  Saint  Dominica  ; 
Cluzel,  at  Guadeloupe ; 
Merault  de  Monneron,  at  Guadeloupe ; 
Bexon,  at  Martinique ; 
Crubier  de  Saint-Cyran,  at  Martinique ; 
Morlet,  at  Martinique ; 
(iirard  de  Chateauvieux,  at  Martinique. 

Chief  of  Brigade^ 
Geoffrey,  at  Martinique. 

Captains : 

O'Connor,  at  Martinique ; 
Fontbanide,  at  Martinique ; 
Rallier,  at  Dominica. 

Gau,  war  commissioner  for  the  artillery  and  engineer  corps, 
was  attached  to  Rochambeau's  corps  in  1781. 

To  recapitulate,  d'Aboville  was  comniander-in-chief  of  the 
artillery  and  of  the  engineers  corps  of  the  French  expedi 
tionary  army  in  1780;  and  Desandroins  was  the  immediate 
commander  of  the  engineers.  Part  of  the  artillery  that  was 
to  cross  to  America  with  Count  dc  Rochambeau  was  left  at 
Brest  owing  to  a  lack  of  transport  ships.  Six  companies  of 
canonniers  started,  one  of  bombardiers,  a  detachment  of  work 
men,  miners,  and  sappers  ;  in  all  live  hundred  and  ninety- 
nine  men. 

The  field  artillery  followed  Rochambcau's  army  by  land 
from  Newport  to  Annapolis,  where  it  was  embarked  for 


'See  in  the  List  of  OHk-ers:   Dumas,  Pichegru,  Plancher. 


14  The  French  in  America. 

Jamestown,  while  the  siege  artillery  remained  at  Newport 
under  the  guard  of  de  Choisy,  with  five  hundred  French 
soldiers  and  a  thousand  American  militiamen. 

The  21st  of  August,  1781,  de  Choisy,  learning  of  the  ar 
rival  of  the  army  at  AVilliamsburg,  embarked  his  artillery 
and  four  hundred  of  his  soldiers  upon  the  ships  of  the 
squadron  of  de  Barras.  He  left  a  hundred  men  at  Provi 
dence,  under  command  of  Desprez,  major  of  Deux-Ponts,  to 
guard  the  hospital.  The  squadron  set  sail  for  Chesapeake 
Bay.  At  the  same  time  Count  de  Grasse  advanced  against 
the  English  fleet  commanded  by  Admiral  Graves,  who,  owing 
to  an  engagement  with  the  vanguard  of  the  French  fleet 
under  Bougainville,  was  obliged  to  retire  on  August  24th. 
De  Barras,  taking  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  entered  the 
bay  and  landed  de  Choisy,  with  his  troops  and  artillery,  at 
Cape  Charles. 

While  the  allied  armies  lay  before  New  York,  two  artil 
lery  officers,  de  Neuris  and  de  Verton,  were  ordered  to  place 
a  battery  of  eight  cannon  and  six  mortars  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  North  River  to  stop  the  incursions  of  the  English 
ships.  At  the  first  opportunity  these  batteries  received  the 
English  vessels  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  them  from  re 
turning  to  annoy  the  Franco-American  camp.10 

AUVERGNE. 

According  to  the  &ats  Militaires,  this  regiment  was  sent  to 

the  Antilles  in   1781. 

Colonel, 

The  Viscount  de  Laval. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Marquis  de  Lameth. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 

Duverdier. 

10Cromot  Dubounr. 


List  of  Regiments.  15 

Major, 

Menou. 

Paymaster, 
Jean  Bart. 

It  was  from  this  regiment,  divided  in  half,  that  the  regi 
ment  of  Gatinais,  which  distinguished  itself  so  signally  before 
Yorktown,  was  formed.11 

AUXERROIS. 

This  regiment  was  sent  to  Martinique  in  1777.  It  served 
also  at  Dominica  and  Saint  Lucia  ;  crossed  with  Saint  Simon 
to  the  continent  to  take  part  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and 
then  returned  to  the  Windward  Islands. 

The  chasseurs  of  the  regiment  tinder  the  orders  of  Major 
de  Frene,  of  Royal-Comtois,  took  part  in  the  capture  of  Saint 
Eustatius  on  November  26th,  1781. 

In  1778  and  1779  the  regiment  was  officered  as  follows: — 

Colonel-  Commandant , 
The  Viscount  de  Damas. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Marquis  de  Rostaing,  replaced  in  1779  by  the  Count  de 

Chapt. 

Lieutenant-  C  blond, 

The   Count    de   Fondevaux,   replaced    in    1779    by   Major    de 

Tunnel. 

Major, 
De  Tunnel,  replaced  in   1 779  by  Galaup. 

Quartermaster  and  Paymaster, 
Auricoste. 


11  See  in  the  List  of  Regiments :  Gatinais. 


16  The  French  in  America. 

The  following  officers,  the  Chevalier  de  Saint  Surin,  Bre- 
thous,  Galaup,  captains- commandants,  and  La  Chaise  and 
Gailliot,  first  lieutenants,  were  decorated  with  the  order  of 
Saint-Louis,  in  1779,  after  the  capture  of  Dominica. 

BELZUNCE. 

The  dragoons  of  this  regiment  formed  part  of  the  troops 
who  landed  at  Savannah.  The  archives  of  the  War  Depart 
ment  and  the  Ultats  Militaires  of  that  time  have  furnished  me 
no  information  about  the  list  of  the  officers  of  this  regiment 
or  of  the  following  one : — 

BERWICK. 

Only  one  battalion  of  this  regiment  crossed  to  the  Wind 
ward  Islands  in  1777.  It  returned  with  the  rest  of  the  French 
troops  in  1783.12 

BOURBONNAIS. 

This  regiment  took  part  in  the  German  campaigns  of  1760, 
1761,  1762,  and  the  whole  of  it  was  sent  to  America  with 
Count  de  Rochambeau.  On  March  16th,  1781,  it  fought  in 
Chesapeake  Bay  on  the  ships  the  Ardent  and  the  Jason,  un 
der  the  orders  of  the  Baron  de  Yiomenil  and  of  de  Laval. 
The  history  of  this  regiment  during  the  expedition  is  com 
pletely  given  in  the  first  part  of  this  work. 

In  1780  the  regiment  was  commanded  as  follows  : — 

Colonel, 
The  Marquis  de  Laval. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The  Viscount  de  Rochambeau. 

u  See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Mullens. 


List  of  Regiments.  17 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
De  Bressolcs. 

Major, 
De  Gambs. 
Paymaster, 
De  Bezuchet. 
Captains- Commandants : 
De  Montfort,  De  La  Luderie, 

De  Lossc,  Desondes, 

De  Lanet,  De  la  Brue, 

De  Cazals,  Duplessis, 

Du  Chevalier,  De  dial  vet, 

Captains  en  Second  : 

De  Corn,  De  la  Chassaigne, 

Du  Faure,  Saint-Aubin, 

De  Manny,  De  Hitton, 

ChennevioTes,  Kininon. 

De  Morand, 

First  Lieutenants  : 
IVArlandes,  Seilhae, 

De  Lamezan,  Cieurae, 

Salton,  Chevalier  de  Coriolis, 

De  Bargues,  D'Artigues, 

Desehaux,  Eychc'iiiu1. 

Second  Lieutenants: 
Boiscontaud,  Du   Bayet,13 

De  Roche,  De  Comeiras, 

Casteras,  Narbonne, 

Saint-Cir,  Crouzat, 

Jousseran,  De  Conrcelles. 

"This  refers  to  d'Aubert-Dubayet,  who  was  Minister  of  War  during 
the  French  Revolution. 


18  The  French  in  America. 

Sub- Lieutenants  : 

De  Silly,  De  Catey, 

Chevalier  Dufaute,  Giemard, 

Vidampierre,  De  Haussen, 

De  Berne,  De  la  Garde, 

Pochard,  Villemonte's, 

Tugnot,  Hitton, 

Gaudin,  Gineste, 

Mellet,  Monmonnier, 

Busselot,  Marcognet.14 

CAMBISTS. 

This  regiment  was  at  Mole  Saint  Nicholas,  in  Saint  Do 
mingo,  in  1777. 

Colonel, 
The  Marquis  d'Angosse. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Count  de  Duras. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 

De  Morisot. 

Major, 

De  Montgon. 

Paymaster, 

Jouen. 

This  regiment  was  afterwards  incorporated  in  that  of  Saint- 
onge. 

CHAMPAGNE. 

The  second  battalion  was  sent  to  the  Windward  Islands  in 
1779,  and  several  of  its  officers  were  wounded  at  the  capture 
of  Saint  Vincent  and  in  the  fights  fought  by  de  Guichen. 


14 See  in    the  List  of   Officers:   Coussol,  Langeron,  Mauny,  Montes 
quieu,  Muderie. 


List  of  Regiments.  19 

On  June  16th,  1779,  Captain  Baritaut,  fighting  under  the 
orders  of  the  Chevalier  du  Rumain,  aided  in  the  capture  of 
Saint  Vincent,  and  on  the  17th  received  the  surrender  of 
Kingstown.  On  the  3d  and  4th  of  July  Grenada  was  taken. 
At  that  engagement  a  hundred  chasseurs  of  the  regiment  of 
Champagne  were  at  the  van  of  the  column  on  the  right. 

The  soldiers  of  Champagne  did  many  deeds  of  valor  on 
the  24th  of  September,  1779,  before  Savannah.  Captain  La 
Mothe  and  a  lieutenant  were  wounded  there. 

A  detachment  of  the  regiment  was  on  board  of  the  ships 
of  de  Guichen  on  April  17th,  and  May  15th  and  19th,  1780. 
The  whole  regiment  was  on  the  fleet  of  Count  de  Grasse  dur 
ing  the  9th  and  12th  of  April,  1782.  During  those  actions 
Lieutenant  Quetteville  was  dangerously  wounded.15 

ROYAL-COMTOIS. 

De  Blanchelande,  at  the  head  of  the  second  battalion,  the 
only  one  that  was  sent  to  the  French  West  Indies  before  1781, 
left  Saint  Vincent  on  June  1st,  1780,  to  capture  Tabag<>. 

The  Chevalier  du  Frene,  the  major,  in  command  of  the 
c/w.s.sY'M/'.s',  carried  the  defenses  of  Saint  Eustatius  on  Novem 
ber  26th  of  the  same  year.  In  1781  this  battalion  was  sta 
tioned  at  Grenada  and  at  Saint  Christopher. 

Colonel, 
The  Count  de  Casteja. 

( 'olonel  en  Second, 
The  Chevalier  de  la  None. 

Lieutenant-Colonel, 
The  Chevalier  dc  Pagny. 

Major, 
De  Frcne. 

Paymaster, 
Lacroix. 

15See  in  the  List  of  Officers:    Petitot. 


20  The  French  in  America. 

ROYAL-DEUX-PONTS. 

This  regiment  was  first  called  regiment  du  Palatinat,  be 
cause  originally  it  belonged  to  the  prince  palatine  of  Deux- 
Ponts  (Zweibriicken).16  It  was  under  this  original  name  that 
it  took  part  in  the  German  campaigns  from  1757  to  1762. 
Chosen  to  form  part  of  the  corps  under  the  orders  of  Count 
de  Rochambeau,  it  embarked  on  the  4th  of  April,  1780,  on 
the  Eveffl&,  of  sixty-four  guns.  Unfavorable  winds  detained  it 
at  Brest  until  May  the  12th.  It  arrived  at  Newport  with  the 
squadron  commanded  by  de  Ternay,  after  a  voyage  of  seventy- 
two  days.  On  the  llth  of  June,  1781,  it  encamped  at  Prov 
idence,  and  from  there  followed  the  general  line  of  march  of 
the  army  to  New  York,  and  then  to  Annapolis,  from  where 
it  was  taken  by  the  Diligente  to  the  mouth  of  the  York  River. 

Four  hundred  men  of  this  regiment  were  detailed  to  attack 
the  strongest  redoubt  of  Yorktown  during  the  night  of  the 
14th  to  the  15th  of  October,  1781.  Under  the  command  of 
Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts,  they  formed  the  centre  of  the  col 
umn,  whose  van  and  rear  guards  were  composed  of  the  regi 
ment  of  Gatinais,  the  van  commanded  by  de  FEstrade  and 
the  rear  by  de  Rostaing.  I  have  related  in  the  history  of 
the  campaign  of  1781  the  glorious  part  that  the  regiment 
took  in  the  triumph  of  the  allied  armies. 

This  regiment  returned  from  Boston  to  France  in  March, 
1783. 

Titulary   Colonel, 
The  Count  Christian  de  Deux-Ponts. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Viscount    Guillaume  de   Deux-Ponts,   who    became    full 

colonel  in  1782,  and  whose  position  was  filled 

by  de  Fersen. 

16 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:   Deux-Ponte. 


List  of  Regiments.  21 

Lieutenant- Colonels : 

De  Haden, 
The  Baron  d'Esebeck. 

Major, 
De  Prez  or  Desprez. 

Paymaster, 
Anciaux. 

Captain*-  ( 'ommandante  : 
Baron  do  Furstenwaerther,  DC  Sunnahl, 

Baron  DC  Wisch,  DC  Slack, 

DC  Klock,  Du    Ilainault, 

DC  Find,  Ri'ihlc  dc  Lilienstern, 

DC  Thuillieres,  Charles  dc  Cabanncs. 

(\ip1aui8  en  fceeond : 

Max  dc  Oabannos,  Dc   I^udwig, 

Baron  dc  Haacke,  Baron  de  Johain, 

Dc  Fnrks,  (/hcvalicr  dc  Haacke, 

Baron  d'Escbcck,  Baron  de  Closen. 

Dc  Miihlenfels, 

First  Lieutenants : 

Count  dc  Spaucr,  I5aron  de  Bibra, 

Baron   dc   Kalb,17  D'lchtcrshcini  the  elder, 

Baron  dc  Schwengsfeld,  Dc  Hm'ii, 

Baron  dc  Glaubitz,  De  Lutzon. 

Baron  de  Truchscs, 

Second  Lieutenant*  : 

De  Bertraml,  Stoertz, 

D'Ichtersheim,  Jiaron  dc  Rathsamhausen, 

De  Schauembourg,  Baron  dc  Giintzcr, 

Dn   Pngct,  De  Gci'spitzhciin, 

J^althaz.  de  Schauembourg,          Baron  de  Galatin. 


Son  of  the  general  of  the  same  name. 


22  The  French  in  America. 

Sub- Lieutenants  : 

De  Pradelles,  De  Peschery, 

De  Schwerin,  De  Ribeaupierre, 

De  Bergh,  D'Egloffstein, 

De  Humbert,  De  Zoller, 

De  Gallois,  De  Rupplin, 

Schutz,  De  Savignac, 

Philippe  de  Hoen,  De  Martines, 

De  Galonnie  de  Yarize,  De  Tschudy, 

Baron  de  Liickner,  De  la  Roche, 

De  Custine,  De  Yerget.18 

DILLON. 

When  James  the  Second,  driven  from  England,  sought  a 
refuge  with  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  Count  Arthur  Dillon,  who 
had  supported  James's  cause,  followed  him  to  France  with  a 
large  number  of  Irishmen,  and  received  permission  to  form 
a  regiment  of  his  own  name. 

The  regiment  of  Dillon  distinguished  itself  in  Spain  un 
der  de  Noailles  and  de  Yendome,  in  Germany  under  Yille- 
roy,  in  Italy  under  Yendome,  and  finally  in  the  campaigns 
in  which  Marshals  de  Yillars  and  de  Berwick  commanded. 

The  first  battalion  went  to  the  Windward  Islands  in  1777, 
under  the  command  of  de  Bouille",  and  aided  in  the  capture 
of  Grenada,  Saint  Eustatius,  Tabago,  and  Saint  Christopher. 
It  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Savannah,  under  the  command 
of  Arthur  Dillon,  grandson  of  the  one  above  mentioned. 

Six  hundred  and  thirty-three  soldiers  of  this  regiment,  who 
composed  the  second  battalion  which  had  remained  in  France, 
were  joined  to  Rochambeau's  expedition,  and  embarked  at 
Brest  in  March,  1780,  on  the  Provence.  This  vessel  also 
carried  to  America  the  legion  of  Lauzun.  These  two  army 
corps  did  not  leave  one  another  during  the  campaign.  They 
embarked  at  the  same  time  at  Head  of  Elk  and  were  de- 


18 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Leval. 


List  of  Regiments.  23 

tailed  for  the  attack  on  Gloucester.  While  Robert  Dillon 
carried  out  this  attack  with  the  second  battalion,  the  first, 
commanded  by  Arthur  Dillon,  was  brought  before  Yorktown 
by  Saint-Simon.  Arthur  Dillon,  immediately  after  the  de 
feat  of  Cornwallis,  returned  to  the  Windward  Islands,19  while 
Robert  Dillon  remained  on  the  continent. 

The  whole  regiment  returned  to  France  in   1783. 

One  battalion  of  this  regiment  was  in  Martinique  in  1780, 
and  the  second  was  at  Lille. 

Its  list  of  officers,  at  that  time,  was  thus  composed  : — 

Colonel, 
The  Count  de  Dillon. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

Taaffe. 

Lieutenant  Colonel, 
De  Mahony. 

Major, 
Browne. 

Paymaster, 
Harvey. 

"The  French  called  at  this  time  Windward  Islands  the  present 
Lesser  Antilles,  from  Saint  Thomas,  Saint  John,  Saint  Croix  (the  Vir 
gin  Islands),  up  to  and  including  Saint  Eustatius,  Saint  Bartholomew, 
Saint  Christopher,  Monserrat,  Pesirade,  Guadeloupe,  Marie  Galante, 
the  Sain  tea,  Dominica,  Martinique,  Saint  Lucia,  Barbadoes,  Saint  Vin 
cent,  Grenada,  Tabago,  and  Trinity.  The  Spaniards  had  thus  named 
them,  because  they  were  constantly  exposed  to  the  trade  winds. 

For  the  Spaniards,  the  Leeward  Islands  were  those  which  were  pro 
tected  from  the  trade  winds  by  the  coasts  of  America,  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Orinoco  to  the  Gulf  of  Maracaibo  ;  that  is,  Margarita,  Blunquillu, 
Tortugas,  Aves,  Bonaire,  Curacao,  and  Arouba. 

The  English,  like  the  French,  called  Windward  Islands  those  from 
Martinique  to  Tabago ;  and  their  Leeward  Islands  were  not  the  South 
ern  Antilles,  but  those  of  the  North,  near  the  Great  Antilles,  the  Car- 
aibes. 

To  sum  up,  for  all  nationalities,  the  French  possessions,  from  Saint 
Eustatius  to  Tabago,  were  the  Windward  Islands.  Saint  Domingo  be 
longed  to  the  Leeward  Islands  of  the  English. 


24  The  French  in  America. 

Among  the  captains  there  were  : — 

Barthelemy  Dillon,  of  the  grenadiers, 
Count  Theobald  Dillon. 

Among  the  sub-lieutenants  was  : — 
Guillaume  Dillon. 

In  1781  the  regiment  was  commanded  as  follows: — 

Colonel, 
The  Count  Arthur  Dillon. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The  Count  Theobald  Dillon. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
Barthelemy  Dillon. 

Major, 
O'Moran. 

Paymaster, 
Mencarely. 

Captains : 

Gerard  Moore,  Shee, 

Purdon,  William  Moore, 

Banks,  O'Neil  (with   rank  of  major), 

De  Nugent,  O'Berin  or  O'Brien, 

Paul  Swiny,  TaafFe. 

Captains  en  Second : 

Mandeville,  Macdermott,  Jr., 

Maguire,  JSTowlan, 

Macdermott,  Sr.,  O'Doyer, 

O'Reilly,  Lynch, 

Kelly,  Coghlan. 


LiM  of  Regiments.  25 

First  Lieutenants  : 
Greenlaw,  Welsh, 

Th.  Dillon,  Evin, 

O'Keeffe,  Joseph  Comerford, 

O'Farell,  Jean  Browne, 

Bernard  Macderraott,  Duggan. 

Second  Lieutenants : 
D'Arey,  Hussey, 

Fitzharris,  Ch.  Whyle, 

Th.  Browne,  Edw.  Swyny, 

Christophe  Taaffe,  Denis  O'Farell, 

Fennell,  James  O'Farell. 

Sub-Lieutenants : 

Maclosky,  Knopff, 

Maurgan,  Mahony, 

Mac-Entire,  Sheldon, 

Edw.  Fitzgerald,  Char.  O'Moran, 

Whill  Shee,  Owens, 

Hyac.  O'Farell,  Strange, 

Fitz  Maurice,  Purdon, 

Ch.  O'Reilly,  Murphey, 

Macdonald,  Hays.'20  " 
O'Meara, 

ENGHIEN. 

According  to  the  archives  of  the  War  Department,  this  reg 
iment  was  sent  to  the  West  Indies  in  1777.  The  Etats  Mil- 
itaires  from  1777  to  1783,  on  the  contrary,  tell  us  that  it  was 
sent  to  Saint  Domingo  only  in  1780.  At  that  time  it  was 
commanded  as  follows  : — 

Colonel, 

The  Marquis  de  Montazet,  who  was  replaced  in   1782 
bv  Count  de  Can  iliac. 


80 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Arcy,  Tarragon. 


26  The  French  in  America. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Count  de  Canillac,   who  was  replaced  in  1782  by 
de  Senecterre. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
Dehaumont. 

Major, 
Le  Beuf,  replaced  in  1782  by  cle  Campagnol. 

Paymaster, 
Eollet. 

I  also  find  two  captains  of  the  name  of  Dudemaine  and 
Lieutenants  Grandseigne  and  de  Bressoles.21' 22 

FOIX. 

The  Etats  Militaires  do  not  even  mention  this  regiment. 
According  to  the  archives  of  the  War  Department,  it  was  sent 
to  the  West  Indies  in  1777,  fought  at  Savannah  under 
d'Estaing,  and  returned  to  France  in  1783.23'24 

FONTANGES. 

A  legion  of  that  name,  composed  of  mulattoes  and  free 
negroes  from  Saint  Domingo,  saved  the  French  army  at  Sa 
vannah  by  courageously  covering  its  retreat.25 

GATINAIS. 

This  regiment  was  formed  by  the  splitting  in  half  of  the 
regiment  of  Auvergne26  and  was  sent  in  1777  to  Saint  Domingo, 

21  For  these  names  see  the  List  of  Officers. 

22  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Preval. 

28  See  Histoire  de  I'infanterie,  by  General  Susane. 

24  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Trenonay. 

25  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Fontanges. 

26  Order  of  March  the  25th,  1776. 


List  of  Regiments.  27 

while  that  of  Auvcrgne  remained  in  France.  The  second  bat 
talion  was  at  Cape  Francais,  Saint  Domingo,  since  1775.  It 
had  served  in  Germany  in  the  campaigns  from  1757  to  1762, 
and  afterwards  fought  at  Savannah  under  d'Estaing. 

Sub-lieutenant  Levert  was  the  first  to  enter  the  intrench- 
ments  from  which  the  defenders  fled  ;  but  the  English  soon 
returned  in  stronger  force,  and  the  French  had  to  retire,  car 
rying  with  them  their  dead  and  wounded,  among  whom  were 
Count  de  Bethizy,  colonel  en  second,  with  three  gunshot  wounds  ; 
Captain  de  Sirenil,  struck  by  a  grape  shot  in  the  side  ;  Cap 
tain  en  Second  de  Foucault,  Lieutenant  Justamont,  instantly 
killed  ;  the  Chevalier  de  la  Rochenegly,  wounded  in  the  head  ; 
and  the  Chevalier  de  Tourville,  wounded  by  a  bullet. 

In  the  naval  engagement  of  the  7th  of  April,  Sergeant 
Charles  Daurier,  later  general  and  baron  of  the  Empire,  was 
severely  wounded  on  the  ship  the  Caton. 

Saint  Simon  brought  to  Yorktown  the  regiment  of  Giiti- 
nais,  whose  men  regretted  their  ancient  name. 

I  have  related,  in  the  account  of  the  expedition,  the  glori 
ous  role  that  this  regiment  played  during  the  night  of  the 
14th  and  15th  of  October,  and  in  what  way  it  succeeded  in 
changing  its  name  for  that  of  Royal-Auvergne.  I  will  not 
again  relate  this  incident  here.27 

Gatinais  returned  to  France  in    1783. 


De  Caupenne,  1777, 

The  Count  de  Briey,   177S, 

De  Rostaing,   1770. 

Colonels  en  Second: 
The   Viscount  dc  Poudens,   1777, 

De  Bethisy,   1778, 
The  Baron  de  Saint  Simon,   1781. 


"See  Vol.  I.,  pa<je  198. 


28  The  French  in  America. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
The  Chevalier  de  PEstrade. 

Major, 

Chapuy  de  Tourville. 

Paymasters : 

De  la  Passe,  1779, 

De  Vaudrime,   1779. 

Captains-  Commandants : 
Lalbenquc,  Dudrot, 

De  Cabrieres,  De  Saint-Florent, 

Vacheron,  Pecomme, 

De  Chaumont,  Langon, 

De  Sireuil,  De  Coussol. 

Captains  en  Second: 
De  Jussy,  Mascaron, 

De  Foucault,  Molliere, 

De  Bordenave,  Carrere, 

S.  Morel,  Berthelot, 

D'Assas,  Fontbonne. 

First  Lieutenants : 

Dubroca,  De  la  Fabregue, 

Boisleve,  La  Morandais, 

De  Chalendar,  Laubadere, 

Chabot,  Roussilhe. 
Basquiat, 

Second  Lieutenants : 

Terrade,  DC  la  Kochcnegly, 

De  Kenty,  De  La  Pierre, 

Dalmas,  D'Emery, 

De  Genville,  Chappuy  de  Courville. 
De  Villaubois, 


List  of  Regiments.  29 

tiuh-Lieutenanls : 

IJQ  Vert,  De  Sillegue, 

Dumont,  Durand, 

Oh.  do  Durat,  DC  Xaveres, 

Calonnc,  Marain, 

Dcschaux,  Beaiirin, 

Pinray,  Palliol, 

De  la   Morandiere,  Dejean, 

Desgouttcs,  Berenger, 

De  Caignet,  Bonneville, 

De  Leonardy,  Suffren.28 

HAINAULT. 

This  regiment,  which  had  gone  to  the  colonies  in  1775, 
formed  part  of  the  troops  who  landed  at  Savannah. 

LAUZUN. 

De  Latmin,  upon  his  return  from  a  short  and  fortunate 
expedition  to  Senegal  in  1779,  received  the  colonelcy  of  a 
regiment,  composed  of  Hungarians,  that  was  then  in  process 
of  formation,  and  at  the  same  time  permission  to  recruit  a 
foreign  legion  to  bear  his  name,  of  which  he  should  be  pro 
prietary  colonel.  It  was  to  consist  of  eighteen  hundred  in 
fantry  and  six  hundred  cavalry  ;  it  was  also  not  to  be  divided. 
But  in  fact  this  legion  never  had  more  than  eight  hundred 
infantry  and  four  hundred  cavalry;  and  owing  to  lack  of 
transports  to  carry  the  force  to  America,  a  third  of  the  legion 
had  to  remain  at  Brest.  During  the  absence  of  de  Lau/un, 
and  without  his  approval,  the  force  that  remained  at  Brest 
was  sent  to  Senegal.29 

28 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Bonnot,  Cornet,  Foret,  Gaillot,  Laborde 
de  Beaunie,  Lanniet,  Menou,  Stack. 

29  See  the  first  part  of  this  book,  quoted  and  followed  as  authority  by 
General  Stisane  in  his  lately  published  (1874)  La  cardlcrU'  Fr<tn<;«i-*t', 
article  Lau/un.  Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


30  The  French  in  America. 

The  part  of  Lauzun's  legion  that  embarked  on  the  Pro 
vence  to  cross  to  America  under  the  orders  of  de  Rochambeau 
included  two  squadrons  of  hussars  and  lancers,  grenadiers  and 
chasseurs,  consisting  altogether  of  about  six  hundred  men. 

This  legion  arrived  at  Newport  on  July  13th,  1780,  but, 
owing  to  lack  of  fodder  for  the  horses,  could  not  take  up  its 
winter  quarters  in  that  town.  On  November  10th  it  moved 
on  to  Lebanon,  and  on  July  21st,  1781,  it  started  from  there 
to  march  along  with  the  rest  of  the  army  towards  New  York, 
the  legion  guarding  the  right  flank. 

Lauzun's  cavalry  rendered  great  services  during  the  cam 
paign.  It  reconnoitred  the  route  of  the  army,  supported 
General  Lincoln  in  reconnoitering  before  New  York  on  July 
3d,  and  fought  successfully  with  Tarleton's  cavalry  before 
Gloucester.  The  cavalry  of  the  legion  followed  the  land  route 
with  the  quartermasters,  the  baggage  wagons,  and  the  field  ar 
tillery,  while  the  infantry  of  the  legion  embarked  at  Head  of 
Elk  under  the  command  of  de  Custine. 

The  whole  legion  was  united  before  Gloucester  under  the 
orders,  first  of  Weedon,  afterwards  of  de  Choisy.  It  was  the 
first  force  to  meet  the  corps  of  Tarleton,  and  it  was  for  this 
service  that  de  Lauzun  was  chosen  to  carry  the  news  of  the 
surrender  of  Yorktown  to  France.  He  was  badly  received, 
and  none  of  his  officers,  he  says,  received  any  rewards. 

The  legion  continued  to  play  a  useful  part  in  1782,  under 
de  Rochambeau,  until  Lauzun  took  it  back  from  Boston  to 
France  in  March,  1783,  with  the  rest  of  the  expeditionary 


corps.30 


SAINTONGE. 


This  regiment  went  to  Cayenne,  remained  there  from  1763 
to  1768,  then  again  left  France  and  made  the  campaigns  with 
Rochambeau  from  1780  to  1783.  Its  lieutenant-colonel,  de  la 

30  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Arrot,  Baudoin,  Beffroy,  Billy-Dillon, 
Dutertre,  Foks,  Killemaine,  Monthurel,  Nortman,  Sheldon. 


List  of  Regiments.  31 

Valette,  was  sent  with  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  occupy 
Conanicut  Island,  but  as  Rochambeau  did  not  consider  it  a 
safe  position,  he  ordered  him  back  to  Newport. 

The  history  of  this  regiment  blends  with  that  of  the  army 
itself. 

By  an  ordinance  of  April  26th,  1775,  this  regiment  was 
enlarged  from  one  to  two  battalions  by  the  incorporation  of 
the  regiment  of  Carnbresis.  Still  the  £tats  Miliiaires,  which 
give  this  information  in  1776,  continue  to  speak  of  the  regi 
ment  of  Cambresis,  and  give  the  list  of  its  officers. 

The  regiment  of  Saintonge  was  composed  in  1781  as  fol 
lows  : — 

Colonel, 

The  Count  de  Custine,  replaced  in   1782  by  the 
Viscount  de  Rochambeau. 

Colonel  en  Second, 

The  Count  de  Charlus,  replaced  in   1782  by  the 
Prince  de  Broglie. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
The  Chevalier  de  La  Valette. 

Paymaster, 
Lafage. 

Major, 
De  Fleurv. 

Captains  : 

Baron  de  Ferrette,  De  la   Foluere, 

De  Beaumont,  De  la  Corbiere, 

De  Wonves,  Des  Forets,31 

De  Brie,  De  Bedee. 

Duchesne, 

81  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :   Laforest. 


32  The  French  in  America. 

Captains  en  Second : 

De  Roche,  De  Champagne, 

Denos  or  d'Enos.  De  Saint-Cyr, 

Scot  de  Coulange,  De  James  de  Longueville, 

De  Laganry,  De  Recusson, 

De  Courvol,  De  Dolomieu. 

First  Lieutenants: 

De  Marguerit,  De  Bellemare, 

Du  Rozel,  De  la  Carre, 

De  Valles,  De  Chanipertier, 

De  La  Chenaye,  De  Yillefranche. 
De  Coulaine, 

Second  Lieutenants: 

De  Tacher,  De  la  Valette, 

D'Arpavon,  De  Reste, 

De  Quirit,  De  Mestre, 

Desvignes,  Le  Monnier, 

Duperron,  Duteil. 

Sub- Lieutenants : 

De  Jousselin,  Desprez, 

De  Seguin,  De  Taffin, 

De  Lauberdieres,  Denis, 

De  James,  Milleville, 

De  Biotere,  Fauville, 

De  la  Chauss^e,  Beaugendre, 

Dague  de  la  Voute,  De  Billemau, 

Faust4,  Ducluseau, 

Bellegarde,  Barbier  de  la  Serre.82 

Lecomte, 

32 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Brieres,  Marcou,  Montalembert,  Noes, 
Treesan. 


List  of  Regiments.  33 

SOISSONNAIS. 

This  regiment,  made  up  of  those  of  Briqueville  and  Segur, 
served  in  Germany  in  the  campaigns  from  1760  to  1702.  It 
distinguished  itself  at  Laufcld,  where  de  Segur,  afterwards 
marshal,  was  shot  in  the  chest.  It  then  served  in  the  Cor- 
sican  campaign  of  1769. 

Two  battalions  of  this  regiment  were  sent  to  follow  Ro- 
chambcau  to  America.  The  rest  of  the  regiment  was  left 
behind  at  Brest,  owing  to  lack  of  transport.  These  two  bat 
talions  left  Brest  on  May  12th,  arrived  at  Newport  on  July 
13th,  1780,  moved  on  to  Providence  on  June  llth,  1781, 
and  formed  the  rear  guard  during  the  march  from  Provi 
dence  to  Head  of  Elk,  where  they  embarked.  The  rest  of 
their  history  is  told  in  the  account  of  the  expedition.33 

C  1oloncl-(  'oiiiina  nd  ant, 
The  Count  Felix  de  Saint- Maime. 

Colonel  en  Hecond, 

The  Viscount  de  Noailles,  replaced   in   1782  by  the 
Count,  de  Segur. 

Lieutenant- Colonel, 

D'Aiiselme. 

Major, 
IV  Kspeyron. 

Paymaster, 
L'Kstrignier. 

38  The  Mercure.  d<~  Frmirc  of  September,  1781,  page  .">:'>,  relates  the 
following  act  of  courage :  During  the  action  of  March  H>th  a  grenadier 
of  Soissonnais,  having  had  his  leg  splintered  by  a  cannon  shot,  drew 
his  knife  and  cut  the  llesh  holding  his  leg,  which  lie  then  threw  into 
the  sea.  He  then  sat  down  and  loaded  his  gun,  and  said  :  "  Thanks  to 
God,  I  still  have  two  arms  and  one  leg  left  for  the  service  of  my  king." 


34 


The  French  in  America. 


Captains-  Commandants  : 

Didier,  Anselrne  de  la  Gardette, 

De  Bien  de  Chevigny,          De  la  Boyere, 


De  Baudre, 
De  Marin, 
De  Gilbert, 

Le  Bret, 

Sinety, 
Bazin, 
Baudot, 
Menou, 


Boisdelle, 

Windling, 

Barois, 

De  Cousin  Duvales,34 

Caldagues, 


Maquoi, 
Mauvis, 
De  Menou, 
De  Guerpel, 
De  Gotho, 

De  Bonne, 

De  Gaillard, 

D'Eroux, 

D'Avalon, 

Ola  vis, 

Bonnefons, 

Loubat, 

Marin, 

Girard, 

Robernier, 


Saint-L6ger, 
Dupalais. 

Captains  en  Second : 
Moyria, 
Saint-Victor, 
De  Lagrange, 
Vareilles, 
De  la  Caterie. 

First  Lieutenants  : 

De  Laburtlie, 

Giou, 

De  Kaissac, 

Saint-Hilaire. 

De  Caumont. 

Second  Lieutenants : 

De  Kninon, 
De  Bouilloney, 
De  Sully, 
Montepin, 
Dursue. 

Sab- Lieutenants  : 

Miollis, 

Barras, 

Villeneuve, 

Pothonier, 

De  Proyer, 

D'Arandel, 

Dannebault, 

Berthier  de  Berlhuis, 

D'Arthus.35 


34 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Ecoussin. 

36  See  in  the  List  of  Officers  :  Coussin,  Dalpheran,  Guichard,  Magusis. 


List  of  Regiments.  35 

TOURAINE. 

This  regiment  served  in  the  German  campaigns  from  1758 
to  1762;  was  sent  to  Martinique,  and  remained  there  from 
1780  to  1783.  Saint-Simon,  its  colonel,  took  the  regiment  to 
Yorktown,  together  with  those  of  Age"nois  and  Giitinais.  It 
was  stationed  on  the  left  of  the  allied  army,  between  impass 
able  swamps  and  the  York  River,  at  the  same  time  having 
to  the  rear  free  communications  with  the  rest  of  the  army. 
Saint-Simon  built  a  strong  battery  of  eight  cannons  and  six 
mortars,  and  was  ordered  to  make  a  feint  during  the  night 
of  the  14th  and  15th  of  October,  while  de  Viomenil  in  the 
centre  and  La  Fayctte  on  the  right  each  captured  a  redoubt. 

The  regiment  of  Touraine  returned  to  the  West  Indies  with 
Saint-Simon  on  the  ships  of  de  Grasse  November  4th,  1781, 
and  arrived  on  the  26th  at  Saint  Domingo.  It  returned  to 

France  in   1783.36 

Colonel  Meslre  de   Camp, 
The  Viscount  de  Poudens. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The   Count  de   Flechin,   replaced    in    1780   by   the   Chevalier 

de  Mirabeau. 

Lieutenant- ( Colonel, 

De  Montlezun. 

Major, 

De  Menonville. 
Paymaster, 
Reynaud. 


36  A  soldier  of  the  regiment  of  Touraine,  Claude  Thion,  only  seven 
teen  years  old,  distinguished  himself  at  the  capture  of  Bristone  Hill, 
on  the  Island  of  Saint  Christopher,  by  an  act  of  great  heroism.  The 
20th  of  January,  1782,  Thion  was  ordered  to  carry  bombs,  from  the 
magazine  in  the  trenches,  to  the  batteries.  During  one  of  his  trips  a 
cannon  ball  cut  off  his  right  arm,  which  only  hung  by  a  tendon.  He 
borrowed  the  knife  of  one  of  his  comrades,  cut  the  tendon,  had  the 
bomb  replaced  on  his  left  shoulder,  and  carried  it  to  his  battery  before 
having  his  wound  dressed.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Invalides. 


36  The  French  in  America. 

Captains-  Commandants : 
De  la  Coste,  Chariot, 

De  Rommefort,  De  Savery, 

De  Beau  regard,  Ducasse, 

De  Launay,  De  Thorenc, 

Desbordes,  D' Artel  de  Weinsberg. 

Captains  en  Second: 

D'Aloze   or  d'Alause,  Normandin, 

D'Espenan,  De  Saint-Felix, 

De  Marcy,  De  Signy, 

De  Latour-Clarnouze,  De  Campan, 

De  Pesseplane,  De  Vezian. 

First  Lieutenants  : 

De  Beaudreuil,  De  Pontavis, 

Parmentier,  Hemard, 

De  Vaubercey,  Beatrix, 

De  Bonne,  De  Pre"chateau, 

De  Gourcy,  Chevalier. 

Second  Lieutenants: 

Desbranches,  La  Rochevernay, 

De  Cremoux,  Pomerry, 

Patet,  Yidampierre. 

Sub- Lieutenants : 

Frai^ois,  Maquette  de  Marcy, 

De  Bressoles,  Banal, 

De  Mathey,  Dubac, 

Lecoq,  Duhamel, 

D'Albenas,  De  Montlezun, 

De  Retz,  De  La  Porte, 

De  Montalembert,  Blondel  de  Bonnenil, 

Dujonquoi,  Dupeyron, 

Latour  de  Clamouze,  Castelnau.37 


37 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Bonne,  Cazal,  Crozat  de  Sarrazin,  Des- 
peyrons,  Falquereitte. 


List  of  Regiments.  37 

VIENNOIS. 

This  regiment  served  in  the  Windward  Islands,   under  de 
Bouille,  from  1775  to  1783. 

It  was  at   Martinique   in   1777,  and   was   thus  officered :- — 

Colonel-  Commandant, 
The  Count  de  Miromenil. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The  Marquis  de  Pardieu. 

Lieutenant-  C  blotuj, 
Rouxel   de  Blanchelande. 

Major, 

Villetard  de  Guerie. 

Paymaster, 

Mallet. 

In   1779  and    1780   the   colonel-commandant   was   the  Mar 
quis  dti  Chillcau,  formerly  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Gtiyenne. 

(  blonel  en  Second, 
The  Count  de  La  Porte. 

The  rest  of  the  staff  was  as  above. 

In  1781  the  regiment  was  at  Dominica,  and  was  commanded 
as  follows  : — 

Colonel, 

The  Marquis  du   Chilleau. 

Colonel  en   Second, 
The  Count  de   La  Porte. 
Lieutenant- ( 'olonel, 
De  Blanchelande. 


38  The  French  in  America. 

Major, 
De  Gimat. 

Paymaster, 
Moreau. 

In  1782  the  Count  de  Bouille  took  the  place  of  du  Chil- 
leau,  the  Marquis  de  Coigny  that  of  the  Count  de  La  Porte, 
and  La  Be>illais  that  of  Gimat. 

WALSH. 

The  second  battalion  alone  crossed  to  America  in  1780,  to 
the  West  Indies  ;  it  did  not  go  to  Yorktown.38 

Colonel, 
The  Count  de  Walsh-Serrant. 

Colonel  en  Second, 
The  Viscount  de  Walsh-Serrant. 

Lieutenant-  Colonel, 
De  Butler. 

Major, 
O'Brien. 

Paymaster, 
Bamelin.39 


38  We  find  the  name  of  MacMahon  among  the  sub-lieutenants. 
:!'See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Macartby,  Staack  (Edouard). 


LIST  OF  THE  FRENCH  OFFICERS 

WlIO  TOOK  PART  IN  THE  WAR  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE, 

EITHER  AS  VOLUNTEERS  WITH  A  COMMISSION  FROM 

CONGRESS,  OR  IN  THE  FRENCH  EXPEDITION. 


A. 

ABOVILLK  (Francois-Marie,  Count  <!')  was  horn  at  Brest 
in  1730,  and  died  in  1817.  He  served  with  distinction  un 
der  Rochambeau  in  the  American  campaign  as  colonel-com 
mandant  of  the  artillery.  By  his  able  arrangements  he  aided 
materially  in  the  capture  of  York  town.40-41 

In  1781)  he  was  appointed  martelial  de  wimp,  and  com 
manded  the  artillery  of  the  Armies  of  the  North  and  of  the 
Ardennes,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  during  the 
French  Revolution  in  1792.42  In  17D3  he  declared  against 


40  Deux  Fonts,  70. 

41  One  may  judge  from  the   following   incident   how  d'Aboville  com 
manded  bis  artillery: — 

The  l")th  of  October  Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  to  (ieneral  Clinton: 
"  Last  evening  the  enemy  carried  my  two  advanced  redoubts  on  the 
left  by  storm,  and  during  the  night  included  them  in  the  second  par 
allel,  which  they  are  at  present  busy  in  perfecting.  My  situation  now 
becomes  very  critical  ;  we  dare  not  show  a  gun  to  their  old  batteries, 
and  I  expect  that  their  new  ones  will  open  to-morrow  morning.  Ex 
perience  has  shown  that  our  fresh  earthen  works  do  not  resist  their 
powerful  artillery,  so  that  we  shall  soon  be  exposed  to  an  assault  in 
ruined  works  in  a  bad  position  and  with  weakened  numbers.  The 
safety  of  the  place  is  therefore  so  precarious  that  I  cannot  recom 
mend  that  the  fleet  and  army  should  run  great  risque  in  endeavoring 
to  save  us." 

41  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars,  7S. 


40  The  French  in  America. 

Dumouriez ;  then,  under  the  Empire,  he  became  inspector-gen 
eral  of  the  artillery,  senator,  and  grand  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor. 

The  Count  d'Aboville  invented  a  kind  of  wheel  with  metal 
naves,  which  was  first  shown  at  the  Industrial  Exposition  in 
1802,  and  which  has  since  been  used  for  velocipedes. 

AIGUISY  (D'),  an  infantry  officer,  was  killed  in  the  naval 
fight  off  Saint  Lucia,  the  19th  of  May,  1780.43 

Aix,  an  auxiliary  officer,  was  killed.44 

ALAUSSE,  ALOZE  or  ALAUSE  (Joseph-Philemon  Galtier  d'), 
born  December  24th,  1742,  in  Languedoc;  was  in  the  three 
battles  fought  by  the  Count  de  Guichen ;  captain  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Touraine. 

ANSELME  DE  LA  GARDETTE  (Joseph-Bernard-Modeste)  was 
born  the  26th  of  August,  1737,  at  Apt  in  Provence,  and  began 
to  serve  in  1745.  His  father  was  an  officer  in  the  regiment 
of  Soissonnais,  and,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  day,  the 
son  was  inscribed  on  the  lists  of  that  regiment  when  seven 
years  of  age.  He  wras  captain  in  1760,  major  in  1774, 
lieutenant-colonel  in  1777,  and,  in  spite  of  poor  health,  he 
followed  his  regiment  to  America  and  served  in  the  small 
expedition  that  started  from  Newport  on  the  squadron  of  Des- 
touches  for  Delaware  Bay.  An  excellent  officer,  his  brilliant 
conduct  at  York  town  gained  for  him  a  pension  of  six  hun 
dred  livres  in  the  order  of  Saint-Louis.  He  was  the  oldest 
of  the  lieutenant-colonels  in  America  who  was  not  a  brigadier. 

Lieutenant-general  in  May,  1792,  he  took,  at  the  head  of 
a  corps  of  the  Army  of  the  South,  Nice,  Montalban,  and 
Villefranche.  But,  having  suffered  a  defeat  at  Sospello,  he 

43  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars,  42. 

44  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars,  7,  186. 


List  of  Officers.  41 

was  accused  of  treachery   and   locked   up  at    PAbbaye.     The 
9th   Thermidor  released  him. 

ANSELME  DE  LA  GARDETTE  (Jacques),  brother  of  the 
preceding  one,  was  born  at  Apt,  July  the  3d,  1740,  and 
served  in  America  with  the  rank  of  captain-commandant,  in 
the  same  regiment  of  Soissonnais.  At  first  he  only  bore 
the  name  of  de  La  Gardette,  which  was  that  of  his  mother.45 
He  died  in  1812. 

ARCY  (Jacques-Philippe  d')  was  born  at  Paris  in  1742; 
captain  in  the  regiment  of  Dillon ;  died  before  Savannah. 
It  is  probable  that  he  was  a  son  of  the  celebrated  Patrick 
d'Arcy,  who  was  born  at  Galway,  September  27th,  1725; 
was  a  member  of  the  Academy  in  1749,  was  colonel  at  the 
battle  of  Rossbach,  and  died  at  Paris,  October  18th,  1779. 
The  father  left  scientific  works  on  artillery,  Uie  moon,  a  iicw 
yun,  electricity,  and  other  subjects. 

ARENDT  (Baron  d'),  commanded  Fort  Island  and  the  Ger 
man  battalion,  and  resigned  in  1777  on  account  of  his  health. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  engage  as  a  volunteer. 

ARMAND  (Charles,  Marquis  de  la  Rouerie),  better  known 
as  Colonel  Aritmnd.  He  served  for  ten  years  in  France  in 
the  French  Guards,  but  left  the  service  to  enter  the  order  of 
the  Trappists,  owing  to  a  love  ailhir.48  He  stayed  with  them 
only  a  short  time,  and  crossed  to  America,  where  he  received 
from  Congress,  March  the  22d,  1777,  the  title  of  colonel, 
and  the  permission  to  enlist  a  legion  of  two  hundred  men. 
He  fell  in  so  readily  with  the  republican  customs  of  the 
country  that  he  wished  to  be  known  only  by  his  baptismal 

*\See  in  the  List  of  Regiments:   Soissonnais. 

48  It  was  bis  unfortunate  love  for  the  Beaumesnil,  of  the  Opera, 
which  first  caused  him  to  enter  the  order  of  the  Trappists,  and  then 
induced  him  to  cross  to  America. 


42  The  French  in  America. 

name.  He  showed  during  the  whole  war  great  courage  and 
activity,  to  which  he  joined  a  gay  and  witty  character.  He 
fought  at  Red  Bank,  and  then  in  New  Jersey  under  La 
Fayette. 

In  November,  1778,  he  commanded,  as  colonel,  at  the 
camp  at  the  Valley  Forge,  a  corps  of  light  armed  troops ; 
he  was  then  only  twenty-four  years  of  age.  His  legion  was 
almost  entirely  destroyed  at  the  battle  of  Camden,  in  Caro 
lina.  He  captured,  near  Kingsbridge,  the  loyalist  Baremore. 
His  corps  was  incorporated  into  the  legion  of  Pulaski  in  1780. 

De  la  Rouerie  returned  to  France  in  May,  1781.  General 
Washington  intrusted  him  with  a  letter  for  Marshal  de  Biron, 
in  which  he  recommended  him  to  the  goodwill  of  the  French 
Minister,  saying  that  this  brave  officer  had  not  received  in 
America,  in  spite  of  his  excellent  services,  the  rank  he  de 
served. 

The  Marquis  received  at  that  time  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis. 
But  he  did  not  wish  to  abandon  the  cause  that  he  had  already 
so  well  served ;  he  bought  everything  that  was  necessary  to 
arm  and  equip  a  legion,  and  returned  to  America,  where  he 
oifered  to  Congress  his  purchases. 

Upon  the  signing  of  peace,  in  1783,  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general. 

Returning  to  France  in  1784  he  took  an  active  part  in 
the  Revolutionary  movement ;  nevertheless,  he  opposed  the 
excesses  of  the  Jacobins,  but  it  was  too  late,  and  he  had  to 
take  part  in  the  Royalist  revolts  of  the  Bretons  and  the 
Vendeens. 

He  organized  the  Royalist  insurrection  of  Brittany  and  pre 
pared  a  general  revolt  for  the  month  of  March,  1793.  For 
a  long  time  he  was  able  to  escape  the  researches  of  the  agents 
of  the  Convention,  and  lived  for  six  months  at  Rennes,  in 
the  midst  of  his  enemies,  all  intent  upon  his  conspiracy,  dis 
guised  as  a  crippled  beggar  with  a  plaster  on  his  eye.  But 
he  was  so  much  affected  by  the  death  of  the  king  that  he 


List  of  Officers.  43 

was  seized  with  a  violent  fever  and  died  on  January  30th, 
1793,  without  having  accomplished  anything.  He  was  buried 
at  night,  by  moonlight  ;  but  his  body  was  exhumed  a  few 
days  later  by  the  Republicans,  who  found  upon  it  papers 
compromising  several  of  his  political  friends.  A  few  of  them, 
on  these  indications,  were  sought  for  and  guillotined. 

ARROT  (Viscount  d')  was  on  board  of  the  Provence  to 
cross  to  America  with  Count  de  Dillon,  under  the  orders  of 
de  Lau/un.47 

ARUNDEL,  enlisted  as  a  volunteer,  was  appointed  captain 
of  artillery  the  19th  of  March,  1776,  under  the  orders  of 
General  Lee. 

ASSAS  (D'),  captain  en  xecond  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais. 

This  d'Assas  was  the  nephew  of  the  famous  Chevalier 
d'Assas,  who  fell  at  Clostercamp  under  the  bayonets  whilst 
crying  out  the  famous,  "  A  moi,  Auvergne,  voila  1'ennemi." 

The  Chevalier  d'Assas  was  captain  of  chasseurs  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Auvergne,  and  he  had  in  the  same  regiment  his  elder 
brother,  father  of  the  d'Assas  whom  we  find  here,  captain 
in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais. 

Rochambean  had  belonged  to  the  regiment  of  d'Assas,  and 
it  was  probably  on  this  account  that  he  chose  this  corps  to 
take  part  in  the  American  expedition  under  his  command. 
The  present  Marquis  d'Assas  must  be  the  grandson  of  the 
Captain  d'Assas  of  the  American  expedition,  and  he  con 
tinues  to  enjoy  the  pension  of  one  thousand  francs  given  by 
Louis  the  Sixteenth  to  the  posterity  of  the  hero  of  Closter 
camp,  which  was  one  of  the  four  pensions48  of  the  <m<-'n  u 
regime  which  were  kept  up  by  the  National  Assembly.49 

47  Mf-moires  de  Laimm. 

4c!"  These    four    pensions   were    the    following:    Heirs    of    Mditcalm, 
d'Assas,  de  Chambers,  and  Marshal  de  Luckner."    Marginal  note. 
"  Archiirs  of  war. 


44  The  French  in  America. 

AUBETERRE  or  OPTERRE  (D'),  an  officer  of  engineers  at 
tached  to  the  expeditionary  corps. 

AURIER  (Charles,  Baron  d'),  officer  in  the  French  army 
under  Rochambeau.50 

AUTICHAMP  (Antoine-Joseph-Eulalie  de  Beaumont,  Count  d7) 
was  born  October  10th,  1744,  at  Angers.  He  began  to  serve 
in  1759,  was  officer  in  1761,  captain  in  1763,  and  colonel 
April  the  llth,  1770.  He  served  in  four  campaigns  in  Amer 
ica,  and  especially  distinguished  himself  at  Yorktown,  where 
he  won  by  his  gallant  conduct  the  rank  of  brigadier  mestre 
de  camp  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois  on  the  5th  of  December, 
1781.  He  was  endowed  with  much  talent,  activity,  and  firm 
ness.  He  distinguished  himself  at  Saint  Christopher,  and  upon 
the  signing  of  peace  was  appointed  marechal  de  camp. 

Cromot  Dubourg  found  him  at  Williamsburg,  where  he  had 
returned  with  Saint-Simon,  and  Dubourg  says  in  his  Memoirs 
that  he  was  very  glad  to  see  him  again  on  account  of  the 
kindness  that  his  brother  had  received  from  him. 

AYMARD  DE  VILL£  (Louis-Francis  d'),  a  captain  in  the 
regiment  of  Armagnac,  born  at  Verdun,  November  5th,  1 749. 
He  was  severely  wounded  in  the  battles  fought,  from  the  9th 
to  the  12th  of  August,  1782,  by  the  Count  de  Grasse. 

B. 

BALDIVIA  (Potthier  de),  a  well  educated  young  man,  son 
of  a  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis,  engineer  attached  to  the  Duke 
of  Orleans,  whom  Dr.  Dubourg  enlisted  for  America.  He 
started  with  Gillet  de  Lomont. 

BARQUES.     See   CHAZEL.L.E. 

60  Admitted  (to  what  not  said)  July  4th,  1825,  upon  application  of 
La  Fayette.  Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  45 

BAROLIER  (La),  captain  of  artillery,  was  almost  killed  dur 
ing  the  night  of  the  28th  of  May,  1781,  by  one  of  his  sergeants, 
who  gave  him  several  cuts  with  a  sabre,  without  known  reason. 
The  would-be  murderer  was  immediately  tried  and  hung.51 

BARE  AS  (Louis,  Count  de),  born  in  Provence  of  an  old 
family  distinguished  in  the  profession  of  arms.  There  was  a 
saying :  "  Noble  as  the  Barras,  as  ancient  as  the  rocks  of 
Provence." 

The  early  part  of  his  life  is  not  clearly  known.  He  first 
followed  d'Estaing  in  his  campaign  in  North  America  and 
distinguished  himself  in  the  fight  at  Grenada. 

After  the  death  of  the  Chevalier  de  Ternay,  Captain  Drs- 
touche,  as  the  oldest  officer,  took  command  of  the  squadron; 
but  the  command  was  given  to  de  Barras,  who  came  to  take 
possession  of  his  post  on  the  Sth  of  May,  17S1.  He  had 
left  Brest  on  the  26th  of  March  on  the  frigate  the  Concorde, 
with  Viscount  de  Rochambeau  and  the  two  brothers  Berthier, 
and  landed  at  Newport.  He  was  escorted  by  the  fimeraude 
and  the  Bellone.  At  this  time  Washington  was  uncertain 
what  direction  to  take  to  strike  a  decisive  blow.  But  de  Bar 
ras  let  him  know,  by  a  dispatch,  that  he  was  bringing  him 
six  millions  in  place  of  the  promised  troops,  wlio  could  not 
come  for  lack  of  transport,  and  that  Count  de  (Jrasse  was  to 
start  on  the  4th  of  August  from  Cape  Francais  in  Saint  Do 
mingo  for  Chesapeake  Bay,  with  twenty-five  or  twenty-nine 
war  vessels  and  three  thousand  six  hundred  soldiers  under  the 
command  of  Saint-Simon.  The  allied  generals  then  immedi 
ately  made  their  arrangements  to  raise  the  siege  of  New  York 
unknown  to  the  enemy,  and  to  move  by  forced  marches  on 
to  York  town. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  troops  under  the  command  of 
Washington  and  Rochambeau  executed  this  movement,  de 
Barras  remained  with  his  squadron  in  the  port  of  Rhode 

"Blanchard. 


46  The  French  in  America. 

Island  under  the  protection  of  five  hundred  French  soldiers 
under  the  command  of  de  Choisy,  and  one  thousand  American 
militiamen.  Finally,  having  received  news  of  the  near  arri 
val  of  de  Grasse  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  de  Barras  took  on  board 
of  the  ten  ships  he  commanded  the  troops  of  de  Choisy  and 
the  artillery,  and,  profiting  by  an  engagement  of  the  French 
admiral  with  Admiral  Graves,  he  entered  the  bay  and  suc 
cessfully  disembarked  his  stores  and  his  troops. 

De  Grasse  had  just  been  appointed  lieutenant-general,  and 
Count  de  Barras,  although  his  senior  officer,  agreed  to  serve 
under  his  orders  until  the  end  of  the  campaign.  He  gave 
thus  an  example  of  devotion  which  has  had  few  models  and 
few  imitators,  especially  at  that  time.52 

De  Barras  followed  Count  de  Grasse  from  Chesapeake  Bay 
to  the  West  Indies,  and  fought  bravely,  on  the  25th  and  26th 
of  January,  1782,  against  Admiral  Hood,  whose  squadron  Avas 
anchored  under  the  guns  of  Saint  Christopher.  De  Bouille 
having  captured  this  colony,  de  Barras  was  detached  to  cap 
ture  the  islands  of  Nevis  and  Montferrat,  which  surrendered. 
He  returned  afterwards  to  Europe  and  was  not  present  at 
the  disaster  of  the  following  April.  He  retired  at  the  Peace 
of  1783,  and  died  shortly  after  the  French  Revolution. 

He  was  the  uncle  of  Jean  Nicolas  de  Barras,  one  of  the 
five  Directors  of  the  French  Republic. 

BARRE  (De  La)  entered  the  service  as  cadet  in  the  troops 
of  the  colonies  in  1759,  passed  as  aspirant  into  the  artillery 
in  1764,  volunteer  in  the  carabiniers  in  1767,  sub-lieutenant 
in  1770,  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Conde"  in  1776,  be 
longed  to  the  squadron  of  the  king  commanded  by  Count 
d'Estaing,  and  to  the  troops  which  were  landed  at  the  siege 
of  Savannah  in  1780,  where  he  was  wounded.  He  is,  per 
haps,  the  same  as  the  following. 


^SeeA^ol.  I.,  pages   109,  110,  and  pages  168-182,  and  extracts  from 
"Journal  dun  offidcr  de  marine,"  page  24,  Paris,  1782. 


List  of  Officers.  47 

BARRE  (De  La),  French  general. 

The  Biographic  General?  says  that,  carried  away  by  liberal 
ideas,  this  one  followed  La  Fayette  to  America,  where  he 
distinguished  himself;  that  afterwards  he  returned  to  serve 
in  France,  and  was  appointed  brigadier-general.  Employed 
at  the  siege  of  Toulon,  and  afterwards  in  the  army  of  the 
Pyrenees,  he  was  mortally  wounded  between  Roses  and 
Figuicres.  The  Convention  decreed  that  his  name  and  his 
deeds  should  be  engraved  on  a  column  in  the  Pantheon. 

BAUDIN  DE  BEAUUEGARD  DE  ROMEFORT  (Charles-Pierre), 
major  in  the  regiment  of  Ag&iois,  born  at  Cognac  the  15th 
of  June,  1740. 

BAUDOT.     See  TAYET. 

BAUDOT; ix,  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  legion  of  Lauzun, 
came  to  America  and  landed  at  Newport,  with  Rochambeau. 
lie  returned  to  France  in  October,  1780.  Blanchard  gave  him 
a  letter  for  his  uncle,  Blanchard  de  Lavarie,  residing  in  Saint 
Domingo,  member  of  the  Superior  Council  at  Port-au-Prince. 

BAUDK£  (Olivier- Victor  de),  born  at  Bayeux  the  21st  of 
May,  173G  ;  served  since  1756  ;  captain  in  17<>'2  ;  captain- 
commandant  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais,  and  the  oldest 
captain  of  that  regiment  during  the  American  AVar;  excellent 
officer,  full  of  honor,  zeal,  and  intelligence  ;  good  conduct  at 
Yorktown. 

BA/IN  (Guillaume  de),  born  the  24th  of  March,  1740,  at 
Marmande,  in  Guyenne,  captain-commandant  of  Soissonnais. 
Twenty-four  years  and  eight  months  of  service ;  three  cam 
paigns  in  Germany,  two  in  Corsica  in  1768—1761),  two  in 
America  ;  wounded  at  Clostercamp  and  in  Corsica ;  decorated 
for  his  good  conduct  before  Yorktown. 


48  The  French  in  America. 

BEAUHARNAIS  (Alexandre,  Viscount  de),  born  in  Mar 
tinique  in  1760,  guillotined  in  Paris  in  1794;  served  as 
major  under  Rochambeau  in  the  United  States.  Deputy  from 
Blois  to  the  States  General,  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  join 
the  Third  Estate,  became  President  of  the  National  Assembly, 
general  of  division  in  the  Army  of  the  Rhine  in  1792, 
minister  of  war  in  1793.53  Falsely  accused  of  having 
aroused  a  disturbance  at  Metz,  he  was  arrested  and  condemned 
to  death  by  the  revolutionary  tribunal.  His  widow,  Josephine, 
became  Empress  of  the  French,  and  his  son  was  made  Vice 
roy  of  Italy  by  Napoleon. 

BEAULIEU  (De),  former  captain  of  infantry  in  France,  ob 
tained  the  same  position  in  America,  where  he  went  to  serve 
in  the  legion  of  Pulaski.  An  infantry  officer  of  this  name  was 
wounded  in  the  fight  off  Saint  Lucia,  on  the  fleet  of  Guichen. 
Pontgibaud  says  that  after  the  war  he  married  an  English 
woman,  and  kept  a  tavern  at  Asylum.  We  think  that  per 
haps  he  means  de  Pontleroy,  secret  agent  of  Choiseul,  to 
whom  we  have  given  another  notice. 

BEAUMARCHAIS  (Pierre-Augustin  Caron  de).  We  do  not 
have  to  consider  here  the  man  of  letters  so  celebrated  from  his 
creation  of  Figaro,  but  only  the  merchant  who  covered  his  specu 
lations  with  the  flag  of  liberalism.  Already  in  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1776,  Barbue  Dubourg,  agent  of  the  Americans  in 
Paris,  had  addressed  to  Congress  two  French  officers,  Penet  and 
de  Pliarne,  who  engaged  to  furnish  arms  and  ammunition  to  the 
revolted  colonies,  and  effectually,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1776, 
Penet  started  from  Nantes  with  fifteen  thousand  guns  from 
the  royal  gun  shops.  They  were  sent  under  the  name  of  la 
Tuillerie.  Beaumarchais,  associated  with  Pellctier  du  Doyer 
and  de  Monticu,  equipped,  in  January,  1777,  the  Amphitrite 


53  Did  not  accept  this  position.    Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  49 

and  two  other  ships,  on  which  were  Ducoudray,  de  la  Rou- 
erie,  de  Bore,  Conway ;  Captain  Fautrclle  was  in  command 
of  the  Amphitrite.  At  the  same  time  Arthur  Lee  ratified  in 
Paris,  in  the  name  of  Congress,  with  the  French  Government, 
a  secret  treaty,  by  which  the  latter  agreed  to  secretly  furnish 
arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Americans  under  the  cover  of 
commerce.  Beaumarchais  undertook  sending  the  arms  and 
the  management  of  the  funds.  He  took  the  name  of  Hor- 
talSs  Rodriguo,  residing  at  Cape  Franca  is,  Saint  Domingo, 
and  he  had  addressed  to  that  residence  the  convoys  that  Lee 
sent  him,  under  the  namefli-^fee^Tfianiilacturer,  Mairy  John 
son.  The  treaty  \wf$not  carried  out  until  October,  1777; 
the  first  convoys  were  loaded  on  the  merchant  vessel  the 
Heureux,  and  they  arrived  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire, 
on  the  1st  of  November.  The  brave  Baron  Steuben  was  on 
this  same  vessel. 

The  Fier-Rodriyuc,  Captain  de  Montaut,  then  the  Fermyus, 
the  Zephir,  the  Estargettcy  the  Thcrase,  were  armed  in  1778. 
The  Fier-Itodrigue  was  a  real  war  vessel  with  sixty  guns,  and 
was  convoying  some  ten  merchant  ships,  when,  in  sight  of  the 
island  of  Grenada  in  the  beginning  of  July,  177*',  it  met  the 
fleet  of  Admiral  d'Estaing  preparing  to  fight  the  fleet  of  Ad 
miral  Byron.  The  Ficr-Rodriyue  had  to  take  a  position  in 
the  line  of  buttle  under  the  orders  of  d'Estaing.  De  Montaut 
was  killed,  and  Gantheaume,  afterwards  admiral,  replaced  him 
in  command. 

The  arms  were  often  of  a  poor  quality  ;  several  loads  were 
captured  by  English  cruisers.  Congress,  whose  finances  were 
in  a  bad  state,  could  not  always  send  to  Beaumarchais  the 
moneys  that  he  wanted.  Nevertheless  he  showed  himself  as 
able  a  financier  and  merchant  as  he  was  a  literary  man,  and, 
thanks  to  his  good  sense  and  his  activity,  he  acquired  some  for 
tune  which  he  augmented  by  other  speculations.  He  nearly  lost 
his  riches  as  well  as  his  life  during  the  French  Revolution; 
his  good  luck,  and  perhaps  his  exaggerated  love  for  money, 


50  The  French  in  America. 

had  made  him  many  enemies.     He   died  in  1799  at  the  age 
of  seventy  ;  he  had,  it  was  said,  committed  suicide.54 

BEAUMONT.     See  GORAT. 

BEAUMONT  (Antoine-Francois,  Viscount  de),  born  the  3d  of 
May,  1753,  at  the  Chateau  of  la  Roque,  in  Perigord.  He 
was  commander  of  squadron  in  1781,  and  brought  himself 
into  notice  in  the  battle  of  the  llth  of  September,  1781, 
where  he  captured  the  English  frigate  the  Fox. 

Appointed  in  1789  deputy  from  the  tribunal  of  the  nobil 
ity55  of  Agen  to  the  States  General,  he  steadily  voted  with 
the  right  in  the  Assembly  Constituante,  was  opposed  to  the 
uniting  of  the  three  orders,  and  protested  against  the  decree 
of  the  19th  of  June,  1790,  which  abolished  the  nobility. 
After  the  session,  he  withdrew  to  England,  then  to  Russia. 
Returning  to  France  during  the  Consular  Government,  he 
settled  at  Toulouse,  where  he  died  on  the  15th  of  September, 
1805. 

BEDEAUX  (Lebrun  de).  Appointed  brevet  captain  with  pay 
the  10th  of  May,  1777  ;  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  legion  of 
Pulaski  the  10th  of  December,  1777  ;56  died  in  America.57 

BEDEE  DE  BOISBRAS  (Ange-Armand  de),  born  at  Rennes 
the  1st  of  March,  1742  ;  entered  the  service  in  1757  ;  cap 
tain-commandant  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  the  28th  of 
August,  1777  ;  five  campaigns  at  Cayenne,  two  in  America. 

°4  This  extraordinary  man  dipped  into  everything ;  he  was  indeed 
a  jack  of  all  trades.  He  almost  succeeded  in  everything,  so  prodigious 
were  his  abilities.  He  tried,  however,  in  vain,  one  must  admit,  to  be 
an  honest  man.  (lievue  Retrospective,  loth  of  March,  1870,  page  168.) 
See  Vol.  I.,  pages  82,  83. 

65  Noblesse  de  la  Sfoiechaiissee. 

66  Perhaps  1778.     Marginal  note. 

67  Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  51 

BEFFROY,  officer  of  the  legion  of  Lauzun,  who  distinguished 
himself  at  Gloucester.58 

BEHAGLE  or  BEHAGUE  (Jean-Baptiste-Emmanuel  de),  born 
at  Paris  the  3d  of  February,  1735  ;  captain-commandant  in 
the  regiment  of  Agenois  after  twenty-six  years  of  service  ; 
served  in  the  campaigns  in  Germany.  Six  years  of  sojourn 
in  America  ruined  his  constitution  and  incapacitated  him  from 
continuing  to  serve.59 

BELLANGER  (De),  officer  of  artillery,  who  was  killed  in 
the  trenches  before  Yorktown  on  the  17th  of  October,  1781, 
the  day  of  the  preliminary  steps  for  surrender. 

BELLECOUR  (Lebrun  de).     See  BEDEAUX. 

BERAGE  DE  LA  BovfcRE  (Jean-Pierre),  l)orn  at  Aix  in 
Provence,  the  24th  of  February,  1736  ;  captain-commandant 
in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais  the  7th  of  June,  1770,  after 
twenty-five  years  of  service.  He  made  two  campaigns  in 
America,  proved  himself  a  good  officer,  and  was  decorated  for 
his  good  conduct  at  Yorktown. 

BERAXD  DE  MAURAIGE  or  MORIM-:K;E  (Christophe-Phil- 
ippe),  born  the  15th  of  March,  1759  ;  appointed  sub-lieuten 
ant  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois  the  1st  of  November,  1779; 
decorated  for  a  wound  received  at  Savannah,  where  he  had 
a  leg  broken  the  9th  of  October,  1780.  Remained  on  the 
battlefield,  and  was  for  four  months  prisoner  of  war  in  the 
enemy's  hospitals. 

BERGUISSONT,  Boriicjuissox  or  BOURGUKJXOXT  (De),  cap 
tain  of  Agenois,  commanding  the  redoubt  on  the  right  against 
which  the  English  made  a  sortie  during  the  night  of  the  15th 

58  Report  of  Rochambeau. 

59  Archives  of  war. 


52  The  French  in  America. 

to    the    16th    October,    1781.     He    was    wounded    and    made 
prisoner.60 

BERRUET.     See  BERVET. 

BERTHELOT  (Augustin-Clement  de  Villeneuve,  Chevalier 
de),  born  the  19th  of  August,  1750,  at  R6signe,  in  Anjou  ;  ap 
pointed  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  (Royal- Auvergne) 
the  17th  of  August,  1779  ;  died  in  1781  from  wounds  re 
ceived  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

BERTHIER  (Louis- Alexandre),  born  at  Versailles  the  20th 
of  November,  1753  ;  captain  of  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais 
the  26th  of  April,  1780  ;  made  four  campaigns  in  America 
as  sub-assistant  quartermaster.61  "  The  two  brothers  Berthier, 
recently  arrived  from  France,"  says  General  Dumas  in  his 
Memoirs,  "are  joined  to  our  staff."62'63 

Berthier  went  in  1783  to  Porto  Cabello  with  Segur  and 
surveyed  the  latter's  property  at  Saint  Domingo.  He  re 
turned  to  France  a  colonel,  served  the  Republic  with  distinc 
tion,  then  became  closely  attached  to  Bonaparte,  who,  having 
become  Emperor,  covered  him  with  favors,  made  him  his 
major-general,  and  created  him  Marshal  of  France,  Prince 
of  Neuchatel  and  of  Wagram.  He  died  the  1st  of  June, 
1815. 


60  Manuscript  of  Cromot  Dubourg. 

61  Marcchal  des  logis. 
62 1781. 

63 In  the  reconnoitering  expeditions  that  were  made  on  the  21st  of 
July  by  the  Count  de  Damas,  the  Count  de  Yauban  and  Berthier,  all 
aids-de-camp  of  the  Count  de  Rochambeau,  the  leg  of  the  Count  de 
Damas's  horse  was  broken  by  a  ball ;  de  Damas  then  took  oft'  the 
saddle  and  the  bridle  himself  in  front  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  put 
the  saddle  on  the  horse  of  a  hussar,  and  got  up  behind  the  latter  to 
return  to  the  generals.  De  Vauban  and  Berthier  each  took  a  prisoner, 
but  the  latter  officer  killed  the  one  he  had  made,  because,  having  sur 
rendered,  he  had  fired  at  him  with  a  pistol.  (Kfcrcure  de  France,  Octo 
ber,  1781,  page  172.) 


List  of  Officers.  53 

BERTHIER  (Cesar-Gabriel),  the  second  brother  of  the  pre 
ceding  one,  was  born  at  Versailles  the  4th  of  May,  1765, 
was  only  fifteen  years  old  in  1780,  and  consequently  could 
not  serve  as  aid-de-camp  to  Rochambeau,  but  he  also  went 
to  America. 

BERVET  or  BERUET,  quartermaster-paymaster  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Ag6nois;  private  in  1768,  officer  in  1779;  was  pres 
ent  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 


- 


BETHLSY  (Jacques-El£onor,  Viscount  de),  born  at  Calais 
the  4th  of  December,  174S.  Entered  the  service  in  1764, 
captain  of  dragoons  in  1768,  colonel  en  second  of  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais64  the  7th  of  August,  1778.  Was  unhappy  at  not 
having  been  on  the  expedition  to  Grenada,  and  did  all  he 
could  with  Count  d'Estaing  in  order  to  be  on  the  following 
expedition,  which  was  granted  him  ;  obtained  the  position  of 
third  commander  of  the  column  of  Dillon.  He  received  two 
gunshot  wounds  before  Savannah  on  the  9th  of  October,  177-*  ; 
one  went  through  his  loft  hand  ;  the  other  cut  his  skin  near 
the  groin. 

SEVILLE  (De),  served  since  1746.  Lieutenant-colonel  in 
1761,  brigadier  in  1778,  marechal  dc  c<inip  the  5th  of  Decem 
ber,  1781;  went  through  the  German  War  on  the  staff,  and 
through  the  entire  American  War  as  quartermaster-general.65 
He  made  ten  marches  of  over  seven  miles  each,  crossing  fif 
teen  great  rivers,  with  the  whole  army  and  few  means,  with 
neither  delay  nor  accident.  His  distinguished  conduct  at 
Yorktown  brought  him  a  pension  of  twelve  hundred  llrrea; 
asked,  in  1783,  for  a  place  as  commander  of  the  order  of  Saint- 
Louis,  and  hoped  to  be  employed. 


64  Royal-Auvergne. 

Kt  Marechal  general  des  logix. 


54  The  French  in  America. 

BEVILLE  (Chevalier  de),  son  of  the  former,  served  since 
1773.  Officer  in  1775,  captain  on  leave66  of  the  dragoons 
of  Noailles  in  1779.  In  1780  he  went  to  America,  where 
Rochambeau  first  employed  him  as  aid-de-camp  and  placed 
him  in  the  rear  of  the  army  as  assistant  quartermaster-general 
of  the  regiment  of  Touraine. 

BICHET  DE  ROCHEFONTAINE,  enlisted  as  a  volunteer, 
brevet  engineer  with  rank  of  captain  the  18th  of  September, 

1778.67 

BIEN  DE  CHEVIGNY  (FredeYic-Fra^ois-Louis  de),  born 
at  Avallon  the  13th  of  April,  1737.  Lieutenant  of  the 
chasseurs  of  Soissonnais,  and  commanded  that  company,  dur 
ing  the  absence  of  de  Tarragon,  before  Savannah.  He  was 
present  at  the  sortie  of  the  25th  of  November  and  at  the 
attack  of  the  intrenchments,  where  he  lost  half  of  his  com 
pany.  He  made  as  captain  the  campaign  of  Yorktown,  al 
though  already  on  the  retired  list. 

BILLY-DILLON  (De),  officer  in  the  hussars  of  Lauzun; 
wounded  before  Gloucester  the  4th  of  October,  1781;68  was 
guillotined  under  the  Terror  with  his  brother  and  Lauzun. 

BLANCHARD  (Claude),  born  the  16th  of  May,  1742,  at 
Angers,  of  a  family  of  that  town  ennobled  by  belonging  to 
the  municipal  magistracy.69  He  began,  in  1762,  in  the  war 
office,  under  the  orders  of  one  of  his  relations,  Dubois.70  Ap 
pointed  commissary  of  war  in  1768,  Blanchard  made  in  that 


M  Re/orme. 

67  Major,  November  16th,  1781.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

68  Manuscript  of  Cromot  Dubourg. 

69  Echewnage. 

70  Dubois  had  for  successor  in   1708,  in    the    position  of  secretary- 
general  of  Switzerland  and  the  Grisons,  the  Abb6  Barthelemy,  author 
of  the    Young  Anacharsis.     (See  the  Almanack  Royal  of  1768.) 


List  of  Officers.  55 

position  the  campaign  of  Corsica,  where  he  stayed  ten  years. 
The  29th  of  January,  1773,  he  received  from  the  minister 
of  war,  Monteynard,  the  permission  to  marry  The"rese-Char- 
lotte  de  Coriolis,  of  a  noble  family  of  Provence.  Principal 
commissary  in  1780,  he  accompanied  in  that  position  Ro- 
chambeau  to  America  and  I  have  indicated  in  my  account 
of  the  war  the  part  he  played  in  that  campaign.71  In  17S4, 
commissary  of  war  in  Brittany.  In  1788  he  was  command 
ing  commissary  at  Arras,  and  was  called  the  following  year 
to  the  command  of  the  National  Guard  of  that  town,  of 
which  he  soon  became,  with  Carnot,  the  representative  in  the 
National  Assembly.  In  that  chamber,  with  Lacuec  and 
Mathieu  Dumas,  he  became  the  ordinary  reporter  of  military 
matters.  He  was  expelled  by  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety, 
and  was  obliged  to  hide  to  escape  pursuit.  It  was  then 
that  he  wrote  up  his  "Journal  de  la  Campayne  d'Amei*ique" 
from  which  we  have  taken  interesting  extracts.72  "  Xow  that 
I  have  some  leisure,"  he  says  (Messidor,  year  II.  of  the  Re 
public),  "  I  shall  make  a  clean  copv  of  my  diary,  without 
changing  anything  important  in  the  style  or  in  the  facts." 
After  the  fall  of  Robespierre,  Blancliard  reassumcd  the  por 
tion  of  chief  commissary  to  the  Army  of  Sanibre  and  Mouse, 
then  to  the  Army  of  the  Interior,  then  to  the  Army  of  I>a- 
tavia,  where  he  was  sent  by  Bernadotte,  who  thanked  him, 
in  17US,  for  his  /eal  and  devotion,  and  lastly  to  the  Hotel 
des  Invalides,  where  he  died  in  180*2,  at  the  age  of  sixty, 
leaving,  says  General  Berruyer,  Governor  of  the  Invalides, 


71  Bhmchard  was  the  principal  commissary  of  war,  during  the  ex 
pedition,  with  de  Tarle,  de  Villemanzy,  Jujardy,  Chesnel,  and  de  Corny 
(Etatx  Militaircx).  He  embarked  at  Brest  on  the  To//'/////-'//,/,  and  slept 
on  board,  the  14th  of  April,  at  Sainte-Barbe,  with  thirty  or  forty  per 
sons.  Rochambeau  added  in  a  note  in  his  own  handwriting,  to  the 
report  on  Blanchard  which  the  Intendant  de  Tarle  had  written  for  the 
minister  of  war  after  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  "a  man  of  the  greatest 
distinction."  Still,  he  received  no  reward,  and  complained  about  it. 

"See  Vol.  I.,  page  9. 


56  The  French  in  America. 

in  a  letter  to  the  minister  of  war,  the  reputation  of  an  ad 
ministrator  remarkable  for  his  talents  and  his  virtues.73 

Claude  Blanchard  had  a  son,  Edouard-Henri  Blanchard, 
who  also  became  commissary  of  war,  and  who  died  about 
1865,  aged  ninety-two,  at  La  Fleche,  Sarthe. 

BLANCHELANDE  (Philibert-Franyois  Roussel  de),  general, 
born  at  Dijon  in  1735,  guillotined,  together  with  his  son, 
on  the  llth  of  April,  1793.  He  went  to  Martinique  in  1779, 
with  the  second  battalion  of  the  regiment  of  Viennois,  of 
which  he  was  lieutenant-colonel  ;74  defended  Saint  Vincent,  on 
the  17th  of  December,  1780,  with  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
men  against  four  thousand  Englishmen,  and  was  appointed 

73  See  Vol.  I.,  page  222,  note  222.  See  also  Journal  of  Claude 
Blanchard,  pages  160-169.  The  stations  on  the  return  journey,  accord 
ing  to  Blanchard,  were  the  following : — 

DATES.  STOPS.  DISTANCES. 

23  June,  1782 Williamsburg. 

24  "        "      Drinking  Spring 9  miles. 

5  July,     "      Bird's  Tavern 8      " 

6  "        "      Ravelaf  House. 

7  "        "      New  Kent. 

8  "        "      Newcastle  (sojourn). 

10  "  "  Hanover  Town 5  miles. 

11  "  "  Hanover  Court  House. 

12  "  "  Brunk's  Bridge. 

13  "  "  Bullengreen  (Bowling  Green). 

14  "  "  12  miles  south  of  Fredericksburg. 

15  "  "  Fredericksburg  and  Falmouth. 

16  "  "  (Sojourn). 

17  "  "  Peyton's  Tavern. 

18  "  "  Dumfris. 

19  "  "  Colchester. 

20  "  "  Alexandria. 

21  "  "  Georgetown. 

22  "  "  Bladensburg. 

25  "  "  Rose  Tavern. 

26  '  "        "      Spurier's  Tavern. 

27  "         "      Baltimore. 

74 De  Blanchelande  also  commanded  the  second  battalion  of  Royal- 
Comtois  at  the  capture  of  Tabago.  E.  S.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  57 

brigadier  as  a  reward.75  After  the  capture  of  Tabago  he 
was  appointed  its  governor ;  afterwards  he  commanded  at 
Saint  Domingo,  which  he  left  when  the  Revolution  broke  out, 
by  order  of  the  commissioners  sent  by  the  Convention.  He 
followed  Mauduit-Duplessis,  commandant  of  the  regiment  at 
Port-au-Prince,  in  his  resistance  to  revolutionary  ideas  and 
to  freeing  the  negroes.  He  supported  the  Royalist  side ;  but 
the  assistance  which  he  had  asked  from  France  was  fatal  to 
him,  as  the  Republic  was  proclaimed.  He  had  to  hide  to 
escape  from  the  zeal  of  the  republican  soldiers  of  the  regi 
ments  of  Artois  and  Normandy,  who  had  landed  on  the  2d 
of  March,  \~\)\.  lie  was  taken,  brought  back  to  France, 
and  executed. 

BLAUDAT  (Mathicu),  born  the  17th  of  January,  1725,  at 
Mulun,  in  Franehe-Comte  ;  enlisted  as  private  in  1740,  and 
reached  the  rank  of  second  lieutenant  of  Agenois  in  1777. 
First  lieutenant  in  1779.  He  was  wounded  by  a  musket  ball 
which  passed  through  both  thighs  at  the  siege  of  Tmirnay 
in  1745;  received  another  bullet  in  the  right  thigh  before 
Laufcld  in  1747,  and  was  cut  by  a  sword  on  the  head  at 
Wartburg  in  1700,  for  which  wound  he  was  trepanned.  He 
was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Savannah  on  the  24th  of  Septem 
ber,  177D. 

BoiS-BfiRTRAND  (I)e),  "  young  man  full  of  honor,  cour 
age,  and  zeal,  who  held  a  brevet  of  lieutenant-colonel  in 
France  in  June,  1770,"  and  whom  Dr.  Dubourg  engaged  that 
month  for  the  colonies.  "He  asks  for  nothing,"  he  writes  to 
Franklin,  "and  will  be  placed  as  is  desired."  He  embarked 
with  Dueoudray  on  the  Amphitriie,  belonging  to  Beauniarchais. 
According  to  the  American  Archives,  he  left  in  August,  1770.76 


7RSee  Relation  de$  combats  d  des  ('Tenements  de  la  guerre  maritime  entre 
la  France  et  VAmjletem',  by  Y.  J.  Kerguelen,  former  rear-admiral.  Paris. 
Year  IV.  of  the  Republic. 

70 Sent  to  General  Mercer  by  Congress.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


58  The  French  in  America. 

BOISLOGER  (Henri-£rnery  de),  captain  of  gunners  in  the 
regiment  of  artillery. 

BONNAFORCE  DE  BELLINAY  was  present  at  the  capture  of 
Grenada  and  at  the  naval  action  off  Saint  Lucia. 

BONNE  (Jean,  Chevalier  de),  born  the  22d  of  July,  1750, 
at  Vivier-les  Montagues ;  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Touraine  ; 
pensioned  in  1782  for  his  good  conduct  at  Saint  Christopher. 

BONNOT.  Private  in  1765  ;  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais77  in  1779  ;  was  present  at  the  attack  of  the  re 
doubt  of  Yorktown. 

BONY  made  the  expedition  of  1781,  in  the  position  of 
paymaster  attached  to  the  army  of  Rochambeau.  Mentioned 
as  holding  this  position  at  the  camp  of  Dobbs  Ferry  by  Cromot 
Dubourg. 

BORDA  (Jean- Charles),  born  at  Dax,  Landes,  the  4th  of 
May,  1733  ;  died  at  Paris  the  20th  of  February,  1799.  Cel 
ebrated  mathematician  and  physicist.  He  studied  at  the  col 
lege  of  La  Fleche,  entered  the  army  engineer  corps  while  still 
very  young,  and  was  at  once  noticed  for  important  scientific 
reports.  In  1757  he  was  aid-de-camp  of  Marshal78  Maillebois 
and  fought  at  Hastembeck.  In  1767  he  was  attached  to  the 
navy  by  the  Minister  de  Praslin  ;  he  at  once  made  a  cam 
paign  and  never  ceased  traveling  and  doing  useful  things  for 
the  navy.  He  went  through  the  campaigns  of  1777  and 
1778  with  Count  d'Estaing,  with  the  rank  of  naval  lieuten 
ant,  and  afterwards  reached  the  rank  of  major-general  in  the 
naval  army.  In  1781  he  commanded  the  Guerrier ;  in  1782 
he  was  charged  to  escort  with  the  Solitaire  a  corps  of  troops 

77  Royal- Auvergne. 

78  Lieutenant-general.    Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  59 

that  was  being  sent  to  Martinique.  When  these  troops  had 
reached  their  destination  he  began  to  cruise ;  but  attacked 
by  a  hostile  fleet,  he  fought  a  long  action  and  only  surren 
dered  after  a  heroic  struggle.  The  reputation  he  had  acquired 
as  a  scientist  caused  the  English  to  treat  him  with  distinction, 
and  to  send  him  on  parole  to  his  own  country.  We  need 
not  speak  of  his  well-known  works.  Perhaps  he  is  the  author 
of  Journal  (Tun  ojficier  de  marine"  already  cited,  Vol.  II., 
page  4. 

BORDEXAVE  (Jean-Ignace,  Chevalier  de),  born  at  Mont- 
Marsay  the  13th  of  December,  1742;  captain  in  the  regiment 
of  Giitinais  the  28th  of  August,  1777;  decorated  at  the  sur 
render  of  Yorktown. 

BORE  (Prudhomme,  Chevalier  de),  French  officer  who  started 
in  January,  1777,  on  the  Amphitrite,  fitted  out  by  Beaumar- 
chais.  lie  embarked  at  L/orient  with  Ducoudray,  Conway, 
de  la  llouerie;  arrived  at  Portsmouth  in  March,  1777,  and 
enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the  army  of  the  Americans.  Elected 
brigadier-general,  he  resigned  the  14th  of  September  of  the 
same  year. 

BOSXIER  DE  SAINT  COSME  ( Jacques- Antoine-Fran9ois- 
Marie),  born  the  1st  of  February,  17«r>0,  at  Montpellier ; 
entered  the  service  in  the  Grey  Musketeers  in  17<><%>,  whence 
he  passed  as  sub-lieutenant  into  the  regiment  of  Normandy 
until  1772;  lieutenant  in  waiting79  for  the  colonies  in  177-">; 
captain  in  waiting  of  the  regiment  of  Armagnac  in  1777; 
received  a  gunshot  wound  through  the  chest  at  the  attack 
on  Savannah. 

BOT/EX  (Baron  de),  Polish  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  serv 
ice  of  the  Americans  in  the  legion  of  Pulaski.  He  was  killed 


A  la  suite. 


60  The  French  in  America. 

at   Egg   Harbor   in    1778.      Cited   as  the   Baron   de  Boze  in 
Records  of  Revolutionary  War. 

BOUCHET  (Denis-Jean-Floriniond-Langlois,  Marquis  du), 
born  at  Clermont,  Auvergne,  the  20th  of  October,  1752  ;  died 
at  Paris  in  October,  1826.  His  family  came  from  Normandy. 
Entering  the  military  engineers  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  passed 
into  the  artillery.  He  served  with  distinction  in  the  campaigns 
of  Corsica  in  1769  in  the  regiment  of  La  Marche-Prince ;  left 
in  1776  for  America  as  volunteer;  reached  the  rank  of  ma 
jor-general  after  the  battle  of  Saratoga.  It  was  then  that  Con 
gress  gave  him  a  present  of  money  to  enable  him  to  return 
to  France.  In  1780  Rochambeau  chose  him  as  aid- major- 
general.  Returning  to  France  in  1783,  he  re-entered  the 
service  as  colonel,  received  the  decoration  of  the  Cincinnati, 
then  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis.  He  emigrated  in  1791,  served 
in  the  legion  of  Conde,  and  was  appointed  marechal  de  camp 
by  Louis  the  Eighteenth  in  1795.  He  returned  to  France  in 
1803,  and  commanded  for  Napoleon  the  fortresses  of  Ypres 
and  Breda  from  1809  to  1810.  He  was  made  lieutenant- 
general  by  the  Bourbons  in  1816,  and  resigned. 

BOUGAINVILLE  (Louis- Antoine,  Count  de),  born  at  Paris 
the  llth  of  November,  1729;  died  the  30th  of  August,  1811. 
Son  of  a  notary  of  Paris,  he  studied  in  that  town  and  first 
intended  to  follow  the  law,  although  joining  the  Black  Mus 
keteers.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  intimate  with 
d'Alembert  and  Clairaut,  and  published  his  Traite  de  Calcul 
Integral.  In  1753  he  started  as  aid-major  in  the  provincial 
battalion  of  Picardie,  and  Che  vest,  who  commanded  the  camp 
of  Sarrelouis,  chose  him  as  aid-de-cam]).  Pie  went  to  Lon 
don  in  1754,  was  made  member  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
returned  for  the  war  of  1755  with  the  Duke  de  Mirepois. 
As  aid-de-camp,  with  the  brevet  of  lieutenant  of  dragoons,  he 
joined  his  former  general,  who  was  commanding  a  cam])  of 


List  of  Officers.  61 

manoeuvres  at  Metz.  Captain  in  1756,  he  was  attached  as 
aid-de-camp  to  the  Marquis  de  Montcalm,  who  was  leaving 
for  Canada.  His  activity  in  this  campaign  won  him  the  rank 
of  quartermaster80  of  the  principal  corps  in  that  army.  He 
was  wounded  on  the  5th  of  July,  1758,  at  Ticonderoga,  while 
defending  victoriously  the  fort  against  Abercromby.  Bougain 
ville  returned  to  Paris,  sent  by  Montcalm  to  ask  for  succor. 
He  only  obtained  four  hundred  recruits  and  some  ammuni 
tion.  Still  Louis  the  Fifteenth  appointed  him  colonel  in 
waiting  of  the  regiment  of  Kouergue  and  chevalier  of  Saint- 
Louis,  despite  his  short  service.  He  rejoined  his  general  in 
1751).  He  covered  the  retreat  to  Quebec,  and  when  Mont- 
calm  had  been  killed  on  the  15th  of  September,  1759,  Bou 
gainville  kept  up  the  fight  for  a  year,  then  surrendered.  Can 
ada  was  lost  to  France.  Bougainville  returned  to  France  in 
1761. 

Bougainville  served  in  Germany  in  1762.  Then,  in  1763, 
he  obtained  permission  to  change  his  title  of  colonel  for  that 
of  naval  captain.  lie  had  built  at  Saint  Malo  the  Airjlc,  of 
twenty  guns,  and  the  Sphinx  of  twelve  guns,  and  sailed  on 
the  15th  of  September  with  families  from  Acadia  and  landed 
in  the  Malouin  Islands  on  the  3d  of  February,  1764.  He 
founded  there  a  colony  which  he  had  to  give  up  the  following 
year  to  Spain.  He  returned  bv  the  Paeilie,  making  discov 
eries,  from  1767  to  1701). 

"When  war  broke  out  in  177-S  he  commanded  the  Ilicn- 
Ainit'y  under  the  orders  of  Lamotte-Piquet.  In  177(.>  he  was 
appointed  fleet  commander,  and  took  command  of  the  L<tn- 
guedoc  as  flag  captain  to  Count  d'Fstaing.  The  same  year 
he  was  made  marfchal  de  camp,  and  participated  in  various 
combats  fought  in  the  Antilles  against  Hood.  At  Grenada, 
against  Lord  Byron,  he  commanded  the  Gucrricr,  whose 
manoeuvres  were  very  fine. 


90  Martchal  dcs  logi*. 


62  The  French  in  America. 

At  the  action  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  5th  of  September, 
1781,  Bougainville  commanded,  on  the  Auguste,  the  vanguard 
of  the  fleet  of  Count  de  Grasse.  The  English  ship  the  Ter 
rible  was  taken,  and  Washington  and  Rochambeau  considered 
that  the  victory  was  due  to  Bougainville.81 

The  following  year  he  participated  in  the  capture  of  Saint 
Christopher.  The  25th  and  26th  of  January,  1782,  he  fought 
in  the  vanguard  against  Admiral  Hood.  The  12th  of  April, 
at  the  fatal  action  of  the  Saintes,  he  covered  with  his  ship  the 
Auguste,  the  Northumberland,  which  was  in  danger,  and  re 
mained  until  he  had  rallied  eight  ships,  which  he  brought 
back  first  to  Saint  Eustatius,  then  to  Cape  Fran9ais.82  In 
1783  he  received  the  decoration  of  the  Cincinnati  and  was 
made  member  of  the  Academy  of  Science.  Vice-admiral  in 
1790,  senator  under  the  Empire,  grand  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor. 


(Fran£ois-Claude-Amour,  Marquis  de),  born  at 
the  Chateau  de  Cluzel,  in  Auvergne,  the  19th  of  November, 
1739;  entered  the  service  in  1754,  and  joined  as  cadet  gentil- 
homme  the  regiment  of  infantry  of  which  the  Prince  de  Rohan- 
Rochefort  was  colonel  ;  the  following  year  he  passed  into  the 
Black  Musketeers,  and  in  June,  1756,  received  a  brevet  of 
captain  in  the  regiment  of  dragoons  commanded  by  de  La 
Ferronays.  With  this  rank  he  fought  in  Germany  during 

81  Good  action   of  Bougainville   at   the   battle  in   Chesapeake  Bay. 
Seven  vessels  against  fourteen. 

"  When  General  Washington  and  General  de  Rochambeau  came  to 
compliment  him  (de  Grasse)  on  this  battle,  de  Grasse  told  them  that 
the  compliments  were  due  to  me  as  having  commanded  the  vanguard 
and  personally  fought  the  Terrible" 

Extract  from  a  letter  of  Bougainville  to  de  Vaudreuil,  shown  to  me 
by  M.  Pierre  Margry,  the  learned  archivist  of  the  ministry  of  marine, 
to  whom  I  owe  much  useful  information. 

82  See  the  report  of  the  council  of  war  who  judged  his  conduct  in 
this  battle. 


List  of  Officers.  63 

the  Seven  Years  War,  from  1758  to  1763.  De  Bouille 
showed  during  these  campaigns  great  courage  and  much  skill ; 
he  received  several  wounds.  As  reward  for  the  important 
part  he  had  played  in  the  success  of  the  battle  of  Griinberg, 
he  received,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1761,  the  brevet  of 
colonel,  but  his  regiment  was  partly  destroyed  at  the  siege  of 
Brunswick,  where  he  was  himself  wounded  and  made  pris 
oner. 

He  was  sent  in  1765  to  Martinique  with  his  regiment, 
which  had  been  remodeled,  and,  anticipating  the  coming 
changes  in  the  English  colonies,  he  explored  the  Antilles, 
which  might  soon  become  the  scene  of  the  impending  struggle 
against  England.  After  a  journey  to  France,  he  returned 
to  take  his  new  position  of  Governor  of  Guadeloupe  in  1768. 
He  aided  the  prosperity  of  this  colony  by  his  wise  and  en 
lightened  administration;  but  disappointed  in  his  hope  of  hav 
ing  to  defend  it  against  England  after  the  dismissal  of  Choiseul 
from  the  ministry,  he  asked  for  his  recall,  and  returned  to 
France  in  October,  1771. 

In  1777  he  was  appointed  marshal  dc  camp  and  was  sent 
once  more  to  the  Windward  Islands,  with  the  title  of  gov 
ernor-general.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  seized  Dominica, 
and  was  getting  ready  to  attack  the  other  English  islands, 
when  the  arrival  of  Count  d'Estaing  with  a  squadron  paral 
yzed  his  plans,  or  at  least  caused  them  to  partly  miscarry. 
Placed  in  a  most  critical  position  on  account  of  his  isolation 
and  his  being  forsaken  by  dc  Grassc  and  de  Guichen,  he 
created  resources  for  himself,  repaired  the  disasters  caused  by 
a  hurricane,  got  together  a  small  fleet  and  made  himself  feared 
by  the  English,  from  whom  he  took  Tabago  and  Saint  Eu- 
statius  in  1778,  then  Saint  Christopher  in  1782.  This  last 
success  brought  him,  on  his  return  to  France  the  same  year, 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general. 

At  the  peace  of  17S3,  de  Bouille,  having  finally  returned 
to  Europe,  received  the  title  of  chevalier  of  the  orders  of 


64  The  French  in  America. 

the  king,  and  the  gift  of  two  cannon  captured  at  Saint  Chris 
topher.  The  Americans  on  their  side  announced  to  him  his 
admission  to  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati  by  autograph  letters 
from  General  Washington,  containing  the  expression  of  the  sen 
timent  of  admiration  and  respect  which  the  character  of  the 
Marquis  de  Bouill6  had  inspired  in  him. 

He  then  became  famous  in  France  for  his  affection  for  Louis 
the  Sixteenth.  Appointed  in  1790  commander-in-chief  of  the 
Army  of  the  Meuse,  Sarre  and  Moselle,  he  had  to  contend  at 
Metz  with  the  spirit  of  insubordination  which  tended  to  disor 
ganize  his  army,  and  had  also  to  resist  the  town  authorities. 
He  grew  so  disgusted  with  all  this,  that  he  had  decided  to  quit 
France,  when  he  was  prevented  by  the  pressing  letters  of  La 
Fayette,  of  Latour  du  Pin,  minister  of  war,  and  of  the  king 
himself.  From  this  time  his  only  thought  was  saving  the  king 
and  the  monarchy  from  the  coming  disasters,  and  he  sounded 
on  this  point  La  Fayette,  who  did  not  seem  to  enter  into  his 
ideas.  A  formidable  military  insurrection  broke  out  among 
his  troops  at  Metz  and  at  Nancy.  This  time  again  his  cour 
age  and  his  ability  triumphed  over  the  danger,  but  not  with 
out  the  shedding  of  blood  (31st  of  August,  1790). 

He  refused  patriotically  the  baton  of  marshal  of  France, 
not  wishing,  he  said,  to  accept  a  reward  for  having  had  the 
misfortune  to  use  his  arms  against  Frenchmen.  Nevertheless 
his  victory  made  him  numerous  enemies,  and  brought  him 
still  nearer  to  the  king,  to  whom  he  sent  his  eldest  sou  to 
concert  the  plan  and  the  means  of  a  flight  prepared  and  med 
itated  by  Louis  the  Sixteenth  himself.  De  Bouille  was  to 
advance  towards  the  king,  receive  him,  protect  him  as  well 
as  the  remnants  of  his  authority  at  Montmedy,  in  a  camp 
composed  of  his  surest  and  most  devoted  troops.  This  plan 
failed  from  a  series  of  unexpected  events,  and  the  king  was 
arrested  with  his  family  at  Yarennes,  while  de  Bouille  was 
forced  to  quit  France  in  1791. 

From  Coblentz,  where  he  took  refuge,  he  still  tried  to  serve 


List  of  Officers.  65 

Louis  the  Sixteenth  by  making  offers  to  foreign  courts,  but 
they  were  all  useless,  and  after  the  death  of  the  king  he 
withdrew  to  England.  He  died  in  London  in  1800.83 

BOUILLET  (De),  officer  of  the  regiment  of  Agenois  ;  was 
present  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown.  The  30th  of  September, 
1781,  early  in  the  morning,  he  had  his  thigh  broken  by  a 
musket  ball  on  the  left  of  the  line  of  the  besiegers  while 
they  were  working  to  join  together  the  abandoned  fortvS. 

BOULAND,  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Armagnac,  thirty- 
seven  years  of  service  ;  wounded  at  the  attack  on  the  intrench- 
ments  of  Savannah. 

BOUIIAYNE  (Cesar-Joseph,  Baron  de),  naval  captain,  born 
at  Brest  in  17(>8.  lie  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  on  the  Auymte,  commanded  by  Bougainville,  which 
formed  part  of  the  squadron  of  Count  de  Grasse.  He  was 
present  at  the  action  in  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  5th  of  Sep 
tember,  1781  ;  at  the  capture  of  Saint  Christopher;  at  the 
actions  of  the  25th  and  the  20th  of  January,  1782,  off  Saint 
Christopher,  and  at  the  disastrous  battle  of  the  Saintcs. 

Naval  ensign  in  17^2,  naval  lieutenant  in  175)3;  wounded 
and  captured  by  the  English.  Captain  of  frigate  in  1706; 
again  a  prisoner  in  1810,  was  only  freed  in  1811;  baron  of 
the  Empire,  with  a  present  of  four  thousand  francs,  the  21st 
of  July,  1814.  Louis  the  Eighteenth  made  him  chevalier  of 
Saint-Louis.  Died  in  active  service  at  Brest  in  1817. 

BOURDON  DE  YATRY  (Marc-Antoine,  Baron),  born  at  Saint 
Maur  the  21st  of  November,  1701.  He  followed  de  Grasse 


83 "The  Marquis  de  BouihY,"  says  several  times  J.  de  Saint- Yallier 
(Histoirc  raisonnce  de  la  dcruttre  guerre),  "showed  in  all  his  enterprises 
rapidity,  ability,  and  courage."  An  interesting  biography  of  de  Bouilld 
was  published  in  Paris  by  his  grandson,  the  present  Marquis  de  Bouille". 
This  book  has  the  merit  of  a  great  sobriety  of  style  when  the  author 
is  led  by  his  narrative  to  give  praise. 


66  The  French  in  America. 

in  the  position  of  general  secretary  of  the  expedition,  and 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  the  12th  of  August,  1782.  At 
the  peace  he  was  made  chief  of  the  division  of  the  colonies 
at  the  ministry  of  the  navy.  He  was  minister  of  the  navy 
under  the  Directory  and  under  the  Consulate,  occupied  various 
positions  under  the  Empire,  and  would  not  serve  under  the 
Kestauration.  He  had  no  fortune  at  his  death,  which  occurred 
at  Paris  in  1828. 

BOURGET  (Geoffroy  de).  Colonel  of  engineers  at  Martin 
ique. 

BOURGUISSON.     See  BERGUISSON. 

BOUVET  (Fran 9013- Joseph),  born  at  Lorient  the  23d  of 
April,  1753 ;  died  at  Brest  in  1832.  Made  two  campaigns 
to  the  Antilles  and  to  Saint  Domingo.  He  was  auxiliary 
officer  on  the  Belle  Poule  during  the  action  of  the  20th  of 
June,  1778,  in  which  he  was  wounded. 

Captain  of  the  ship  the  Audacieux  in  1793  ;  rear-admiral 
in  1802.  He  returned  at  this  time  to  Saint  Domingo  with 
General  Richepance.  He  became  vice-admiral  and  was  re 
tired  in  1817. 

BOYERE.     See  BERAGE. 

BOYS  (Pierre-Fran9ois  de),  enlisted  as  a  volunteer,  brev 
eted  the  7th  of  October,  1776,  as  major  in  waiting  of  the 
army.84 

BOZE  (Baron   de).     See  BOTZEN. 

Bozox  DE  PERIGORD  (Count),  came  to  America  in  1782 
with  the  Prince  de  Broglie,  and  rejoined  the  troops  at  Cram- 
pond,  then  went  from  Boston  to  Porto  Cabello  with  Dumas. 

84  Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  07 

BRAIIM  (Ferdinand  de),  engineer  for  South  Carolina  the 
19th  of  February,  1776.85  He  is  mentioned  also  in  Records 
of  Revolutionary  War  in  these  terms:  "  The  llth  of  Janu 
ary,  1778,  Congress  gave  him  a  brevet  of  engineer  with  rank 
of  major  in  the  service  of  the  United  States." J 

BRKXTANO  (de),  aid-de-camp  of  the  Chevalier  de  Viomenil ; 
distinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt  of  York- 
town. 

BRKSSOLES  (Gilbert  de),  born  the  3d  of  December,  1739, 
at  la  Planche,  in  Bourbonnais.  Entered  the  service  in  1757  ; 
wounded  by  several  sabre  cuts  at  the  battle  of  Minden  in 
1759  ;  badly  crushed  by  a  horse  killed  under  him  at  Cassel 
in  1702;  captain  in  1709  ;  major  in  1770;  lieutenant-colonel 
of  Bourbonnais  the  29th  of  December,  1777  ;  received  a  pen 
sion  for  his  good  conduct  at  Yorktown.  "  Serves  with  much 
distinction,  and  is  one  of  the  best  lieutenant-colonels."87 

BRICK  or  BnuE,88  enlisted  as  volunteer  aid-de-camp  to  La 
Fayctte  ;  brevet  lieutenant-colonel  the  27th  of  October,  177>S. 
Had  a  horse  killed  under  him  before  Gloucester,  the  25th  of 
November,  1777. 

BRIE  (Jean-Georges-Prosper  Dauricr  de  Madron  de),  born 
the  25th  of  November,  1737,  at  Brie,  near  Savendun,  countv 
of  Foix  ;  served  since  1749;  captain  in  17<><>;  captain-com 
mandant  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  ;  received  a  pension  for 
his  good  conduct  before  Yorktown/9 

BRIERES  (Zacharie-Jaeques  des),  born  at  Paris  the  2(>th 
of  March,  1730.  Four  campaigns  at  the  lie  de  France, 

^American  Archives.     Series  4,   Vol.  V.,  page  584. 
"Built  Fort  Moultrie.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

87  Archive*  of  War. 

88  Me  moires  of  La  Fayette. 
M  Archives  of  War. 


68  The  French  in  America. 

two  in  America ;  captain-commandant  in  the  regiment  of 
Saintonge.  His  good  conduct  at  Yorktown  brought  him  the 
cross  of  Saint-Louis. 

BROGLIE  (Victor-Claude,  Prince  de),  of  an  illustrious  family 
from  Quiers  in  Piedmont,  which,  at  the  time  of  the  Ameri 
can  War,  had  already  given  to  France  several  marshals  and 
other  eminent  men. 

The  grandfather  of  Victor-Claude,  who  won  the  battles  of 
Parma  and  of  Guastella  (1734),  afterwards  commanded  the 
troops  sent  in  1741  to  Bohemia  with  the  Marquis90  of  Belle- 
Isle,  and  was  created  duke  by  Louis  the  Fifteenth.  His  fa 
ther  was  appointed,  in  1759,  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Em 
pire  by  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  in  return  for  the  services 
he  had  rendered  him  during  the  war  against  Prussia.  In 
1789  Louis  the  Sixteenth  intrusted  him  with  the  ministry 
of  war. 

Born  in  1757,  Victor-Claude  de  Broglie  entered  the  service 
in  1771,  and  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Saint 
onge  the  3d  of  June,  1779.  He  was  sent  to  America  in 
1782,  with  the  rank  of  mestre  de  camp.  Mathieu  Dumas 
says  in  his  Souvenirs  that  he  started  from  Eochefort  on  the 
12th  of  May  of  that  year,91  but  he  tells  himself  in  his  Me 
moirs92  that  he  embarked  on  the  19th  of  May  at  Brest,  on 
the  Gloire,  commanded  by  de  Valonge.  This  was  at  the 
time  when  several  superior  officers  of  the  expeditionary  corps, 
who  had  come  on  missions  or  on  leave  of  absence  to  France 
after  the  capture  of  Yorktown,  were  returning  to  their  posts. 
Many  of  the  young  nobles,  anxious  to  share  in  the  glory 
and  the  dangers  of  the  Frenchmen  who  had  preceded  them 
to  the  United  States,  had  also  obtained  permission  to  join 

90  Marshal.    Marginal  note. 

91  It  is  by  an  error  that  Mr.  Drake,  in  his  new  and  excellent  Dictionary 
of  American  Biography,  makes  de  Broglie  serve  in  the  campaign  of  1781. 

92  Vol.  I.,  page  15. 


List  of  Officers.  69 

the  army  of  Rochambeau.  So  we  see  leaving  on  the  same 
ship  as  the  Prince  de  Broglie :  the  Duke  de  Lauzun,  de  Shel 
don,  the  Count  de  Segur,  de  Lomenie,  Alexandre  de  Lameth, 
the  Baron  de  Montesquieu,  de  Polereski,  the  Viscount  de  Vau- 
dreuil,  and  an  aid-de-camp  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  de  Ligliorn. 

The  Aiyle,  which  left  at  the  same  time  as  the  Gloire,  had  as 
passengers  Mathieu  Dumas,  the  Baron  de  Viomenil,  the  Count 
llicci,  the  Duke  de  Laval,  de  Langeron,  Count  Bozon  de 
Talleyrand,  de  Floury.  This  frigate  was  commanded  by 
Latouche-Treville.  She  carried  two  million  five  hundred 
thousand  llvren  for  Congress.  I  have  narrated  in  the  first 
part  of  this  book  the  events  that  happened  during  the  passage, 
and  the  circumstances  that  troubled  the  landing  in  Delaware 
Bay.  De  Broglie,  after  having  aided  in  saving  the  barn-Is 
full  of  money  which  Latouche-Treville  was  obliged  to  throw 
overboard  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  joined  the  army  at 
Crampond. 

The  expeditionary  corps  had  done  its  work  ;  there  were  no 
more  laurels  for  the  young  officer  to  gather  in  the  now  defin 
itely  established  United  States.  So  he  soon  embarked  at 
Boston  for  the  United  States  of  Columbia,  which  he  explored 
in  company  with  several  of  his  fellow  passengers. 

After  his  return  to  France  he  was  made  deputy  to  the 
States  General,  then  employed  as  umnrhul  dc  camp  in  the 
Army  of  the  Rhine.  But  he  would  not  rccngni/e  the  act  of 
suspension  of  the  king;  he  was,  for  this  act  of  resistance, 
accused,  condemned  to  death,  and  guillotined  at  Paris,  the 
27th  of  June,  1 794.  He  was  thirty-seven  years  of  age.93 


93 In  the  Magazine,  of  American  History  for  1877  there  appeared 
the  translation,  by  my  sister,  of  the  narrative  of  the  Prince  de  Broglie, 
with  a  preliminary  notice,  by  my  father,  of  the  family  of  the  Prince 
de  Broglie. 

In  1886  the  same  magazine  published  a  note  by  my  sister  on  the 
family  of  de  Broglie,  quoting  passages  from  a  letter  of  the  present 
Duke  de  Broglie,  in  which  he  says :  "  The  facts  quoted  by  your  father 
in  regard  to  my  family  are  in  absolute  conformity  iritJi  the  truth.1'  E.  S.  B. 


70  The  French  in  America. 

BROMER  (De),  Swedish  officer,  wounded  at  the  naval  action 
off  Saint  Lucia.  He  was  present  at  the  attack  of  Savannah. 

BROVES  (De),  officer  of  artillery  in  the  service  of  the 
Americans,  returned  to  France  with  La  Fayette,  Pontgibaud, 
Mauduit-Duplessis,  de  Eaymondis  and  others  on  the  Alliance, 
in  January,  1779.  They  arrived  at  Brest  on  the  6th  of  Feb 
ruary. 

BROWNE  (Thomas),  major  of  the  regiment  of  Dillon,  was 
born  at  Castelloffre  the  12th  of  October,  1732  ;  killed  the 
9th  of  October,  1779,  before  Savannah. 

BRUE.     See  BRICE. 

BRUEYS  D'AIGALLIERS  (Fran9ois-Paul),  born  at  Uzes  in 
1753.  He  entered  the  navy  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  and  in 
1780  served  as  naval  lieutenant  in  the  fleet  of  Count  de 
Grasse.  He  took  part  in  the  five  actions  that  were  fought 
with  Admirals  Hood  and  Graves. 

Captain  in  1792  and  vice-admiral  in  1798,  he  convoyed 
to  Egypt  the  army  of  Bonaparte,  and  was  cut  in  two  by  a 
cannon  ball  at  the  battle  of  Aboukir,  on  the  24th  of  August, 
1798. 

BRUIX  (Eustache),  born  in  Saint  Domingo  the  17th  of 
July,  1759;  died  as  admiral  at  Paris  the  18th  of  June,  1805. 
He  embarked  first  on  a  merchant  vessel,  and  made  his  first 
campaign  on  the  Fox  and  his  second  on  the  Concord.  After 
1  laving  served  on  the  various  squadrons  which  went  to  the 
assistance  of  the  United  States,  and  been  present  at  three 
actions,  he  was  appointed  ensign  in  1781.  After  much  work, 
and  repeatedly  distinguishing  himself,  he  was  made  minister 
of  the  navy  at  the  beginning  of  the  Empire.  At  the  time 


List  of  Officers.  71 

of  his   death   he   was   charged    by   Napoleon  with   organizing 
a  landing  in  England. 


ES  (Count  de),  born  in  1734;  died  in  July,  1821. 
He  entered  the  navy  very  young,  and  distinguished  himself 
under  d'Estaing  in  the  American  War,  and  under  the  Bailli 
de  Suffren.  Having  been  given  the  command  of  the  Illustre 
and  remaining  alone  with  the  Heros,  he  drove  away  twelve 
English  ships.  He  returned  to  Europe  in  1784,  and  was 
despoiled  of  his  rank  and  fortune  during  the  Revolution,  and 
even  of  his  liberty  in  1703.  Louis  the  Eighteenth  made  him 
grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis. 

Buissox  (Chevalier  du),  enlisted  as  a  volunteer,  brevet- 
major  the  4th  of  October,  1777  ;  retired  in  1781.  The  Penn 
sylvania  Gazette  of  the  4th  of  October,  1780,  printed  the  fol 
lowing  letter  from  the  Chevalier  du  Buisson  to  Generals 
Smallwood  and  Gist.  It  was  dated  at  Charlotte  the  26th  of 
August  :  — 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERATES  :  —  Having  received  several  wounds 
in  the  action  of  the  16th  instant,  I  was  made  prisoner  witli  the 
honorable  major-general,  the  Baron  de  Kalb,  with  whom  I 
served  as  aid-de-camp  and  friend,  and  had  an  opportunity 
of  attending  that  great  and  good  officer  during  the  short  time 
he  languished  with  eleven  wounds,  which  proved  mortal  on 
the  third  day. 

"  It  is  with  pleasure  I  obey  the  Baron's  last  commands,  in 
presenting  his  most  affectionate  compliments  to  all  the  officers 
and  men  of  his  division.  He  expressed  the  greatest  satisfaction 
in  the  testimony  given  by  the  British  army  of  the  bravery  of 
his  troops,  and  he  was  charmed  with  the  firm  opposition  they 
made  to  superior  force,  when  abandoned  by  the  rest  of  the 
army.  The  gallant  behavior  of  the  Delaware  regiment  and 
the  companies  of  artillery  attached  to  the  brigades  afforded 


72  The  French  in  America. 

him  infinite  pleasure,  and  the  exemplary  conduct  of  the  whole 
division  gave  him  an  endearing  sense  of  the  merit  of  the 
troops  he  had  the  honor  to  command. 

"I  am,  dear  generals,  with  regard  and  respect,  your  most 
obedient  humble  servant, 

"LE  CHEVALIER  DUBUYSSON, 

"Lieutenant-  Colonel. 
"To  Brigadier- Generals  Smattwood  and   Gist."**'95 

BUZALET  (Charles- Adrien  de),  chief  of  brigade  in  the  reg 
iment  of  Auxonne,  royal  corps  of  artillery. 

c. 

CABANNES  (Charles-Guillaume  de),  born  the  21st  of  April, 
1742;  entered  as  second  lieutenant  the  regiment  of  Royal- 
Deux-Ponts  the  9th  of  April,  1758 ;  captain-commandant 
the  4th  of  April,  1780;  made  five  campaigns  in  Germany, 
then  two  in  America,  where  his  conduct  before  Yorktown 
brought  him  the  decoration  of  Military  Merit. 

CABANNES  (Adam-Maximilien  de),  born  at  Nassau-Sieghen 
the  4th  of  January,  1741  ;  entered  the  30th  of  June,  1758, 
as  sub-lieutenant,  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts ;  made 
the  campaigns  of  Germany  and  America  like  the  former,  and 
received  also  the  cross  of  Military  Merit  after  the  capture  of 
Yorktown,  but  was  not  appointed  captain-commandant  until 
the  30th  of  June,  1782. 

CABRIEBES.     See  ROUVERIE. 

CALDAGUES  (Pierre-Raymond  de),  bom  at  Aurillac  the 
3d  of  August,  1747.  Entered  the  service  in  1763  as  sub- 


94  See  also  Mercure  de  France,  January,  1781,  page  154. 
96  He  is  not  cited  in  the  life  of  de  Kalb  by  the  Hon.  Friedrich 
Kapp.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  73 

lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais,  appointed  captain 
en  second  in  this  regiment  the  12th  of  May,  1781  ;  had  no 
fortune,  and  received  a  pension  for  his  conduct  before  York- 
town. 

CAMBRAY  (Chevalier  dti),  entered  the  service  as  candi 
date  (aspirant)  to  the  royal  corps  of  artillery  in  1770,  and 
was  not  made  officer,  as  there  was  no  vacancy.  He  left  for 
America  with  de  Carmichael  in  1778,  and  arrived  in  the 
month  of  June.  In  the  Memoirs  of  La  Fayette  at  that  time 
is  a  letter  where  he  writes  to  his  wife  that  du  Cambray  will 
be  well  placed.  He  was,  in  fact,  appointed  by  Congress96  lieu 
tenant-colonel  in  the  corps  of  the  engineers,  under  the  orders 
of  Du  Portail,  and  fortified  Charlestown  in  1779.  Then  he 
was  commander  of  the  artillery  in  the  Department  of  the  West. 
At  the  peace  he  wras  appointed  major  in  the  provincial  troops. 

CAMPANES  (La  Muderie  de).     See  MUDERIE. 
CANTEL  D'INETP:VII.LE.     See  DAXETEVILLE. 

CARAVAOXE  or  GARAVAQUE,  officer  of  engineers  attached 
to  the  expeditionary  corps.97 

CARMICIIAEL,  arrived  in  America  with  du  Cambray  in 
June,  1778.  La  Fayette  writes  at  this  time  that  lie  had  not 
yet  received  a  position.98 

CARRERE,  enlisted  as  private  in  France  in  17-V2,  became 
officer  in  1767  and  captain  en  second  of  the  grenadiers  of 
Gatinais  in  1770.  Distinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  the 
redoubt  before  Yorktown. 


06  October,  1778.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

97  Blanc-hard. 

96  Me  moires  of  La  Fayette. 


74  The  French  in  America. 

CATAY  (Frai^ois-Ce'sar  de),  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of 
Bourbonnais  during  the  expedition  of  the  United  States ;  was 
wrecked  during  the  action  of  the  Jason,  and  only  escaped 
with  difficulty. 

CATERIE  (Julien  Drude  de  la).     See  DRTJDE. 

CAZAL  (De),  captain-commandant  in  the  regiment  of  Tou- 
raine;  entered  the  service  in  1761. 

CHABANNES  (Jacques-Gilbert-Marie,  Count  de),  born  at 
Paris  the  3d  of  August,  1760.  Officer  in  1776,  captain  in 
waiting  of  the  regiment  of  Royal -Piemont  in  1778.  Made 
the  campaigns  in  America  as  aid-quartermaster-general  of  the 
army  of  Rochambeau.  He  was  also  aid-de-camp  of  the  Baron 
de  Viomenil,  who,  in  his  report  of  the  capture  of  York- 
town,  calls  attention  to  his  bravery  and  his  merit.  Roch 
ambeau  asked  for  him,  on  account  of  his  worth  and  his 
valor,  the  rank  of  mestre  de  camp  en  second,  which  he  ob 
tained  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough,  on  the  3d  of  August, 
1783. 

CHABERT  (Marquis  de),  born  in  1724,  died  in  1805.  As 
tronomer  and  French  admiral.  Entered  the  navy  as  guard 
in  July,  1741,  and  distinguished  himself  in  several  expedi 
tions,  notably  in  Acadia,  at  Louisbourg,  in  1746.  He  left, 
February  the  28th,  1778,  on  the  sixty-four  gun  vessel,  the 
Vaittant,  which  he  commanded  and  which  formed  part  of  the 
fleet  of  the  Count  d'Estaing.  He  took  part  in  the  actions 
off  Grenada.  He  changed,  on  the  20th  of  September,  1780, 
to  the  eighty-gun  ship,  the  Saint  Esprit,  in  which  he  took 
part,  under  de  Grasse,  in  the  actions  of  the  19th  of  April, 
2d  of  June,  5th  of  September,  1781,  and  at  the  combat  of 
the  8th  of  the  same  month,  where  he  was  wounded.  Ap 
pointed  chief  of  squadron  the  20th  of  January,  1782,  he 


List  of  Officers.  75 

nevertheless  did  not  neglect  his  scientific  work.      Commander 
of  Saint-Louis  in   1784  and  vice-admiral  in   1792." 

CHAISE  (De  la),  commanded  a  little  detachment  of  thirty 
men  who  captured  Fort  Loubieres  at  the  attack  of  Dominica, 
the  7th  of  September,  1778.  He  was  detached  from  the 
regiment  of  Atixerrois,  under  the  orders  of  Viscount  de 
Damas.  Received  the  order  of  Saint-Louis  in  1779.100 

CHALENDAR  (Jcan-Baptiste-Marguerite,  Chevalier  de),  born 
at  Bonay,  near  to  Le  Puy,  the  16th  of  April,  1751.  En 
tered  the  service  in  1771  as  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais.  Distinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  Yorktown, 
and  was  appointed  captain  in  October,  1781.  AVas  made  pris 
oner  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  on  the  ship  the  Cnton. 

CHAMILLAUD  DE  VARVILLE,  lieutenant-colonel,  com 
mander  en  second  of  the  J>on  Horn  me  Richard  under  Paul 
Jones,  commanded  a  party  of  twenty  men  during  the  action 
with  the  Serapis™ 

CHAMPAGNY  (Jean-Baptiste  de  Xompere  de,  Count  <le 
Champagny,  Duke  de  Cadore),  born  at  Rounne  the  4th  of 
August,  1750;  died  the  3d  of  July,  IS.'vl  ;  entered  the  navy 
in  1775  as  naval  ensign  ;  was  wounded  in  the  naval  action 
of  the  12th  of  April,  1782.10~ 

He  became  naval  lieutenant  and  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis; 
was  deputy  to  the  States  General  from  the  nobilitv  of  Fore/ 
in  1789;  was  imprisoned  during  the  Terror;  was  in  sneees- 
sion  state  councillor,  minister  of  the  interior,  and  minister  of 


99  L.  B.,  96,  200,  204-243. 
100  Longchamp. 


101  Life  of  ./.  Paid   Jones,   by   Sherburne,  1825,  page    129.     Life  of  J. 
Paul  Jones,  by  Jeannette  Taylor.    New  York,  1830.     Page  162. 
108  L.  B.,  262. 


76  The  French  in  America. 

foreign  affairs  under  Napoleon,  and  also  senator.  He  was 
created  Count  de  Champagny  the  24th  of  April,  1808,  Duke 
de  Cadore  (Pieve  di  Cadore)  the  15th  of  August,  1809,  and 
peer  of  France  under  the  Restauration.  He  served  also  under 
Louis  Philippe. 

CHAMPCENEZ  (De),  cited  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Prince  de 
Broglie  and  in  those  of  Dumas  as  having  made  excursions 
with  them  in  North  America,  then  in  Columbia.  He  was  on 
the  Aigle  during  its  passage,  and  showed  the  greatest  courage 
in  trying  to  save  the  vessel  and  the  crew  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Delaware. 

CHAPPUY  DE  COURVILLE  (Toussaint-Magloire),  born  the 
6th  of  June,  1761,  at  Yiviers,  in  the  Yivarais ;  cadet  gentil- 
homme  the  6th  of  June,  1776;  sub-lieutenant  of  Gatinais  the 
28th  of  August,  1777;  second  lieutenant  the  10th  of  March, 
1780;  first  lieutenant  the  2d  of  April,  1784;  made  the 
campaigns  in  the  Antilles  with  his  regiment ;  wounded  by  a 
musket  ball  at  Savannah,  and  made  prisoner  at  the  naval 
action  of  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  on  the  ship  the  Ardent. 

CHAPUY  DE  TOURVILLE  (Charles-Bertin-Gaston),  born  at 
Metz  the  4th  of  January,  1740.  Entered  the  service  in 
1765,  major  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  in  1776;  fulfilled 
for  a  year  in  America  the  duties  of  major-general. 

CHARLOT,  entered  the  service  in  1759 ;  made  the  American 
expedition  as  captain-commandant  in  the  regiment  of  Touraine. 

CHARLUS  DE  LA  CROIX  (Count  de),  son  of  the  Marshal 
de  Castries,  minister  of  war  in  1782.103  He  was  born  the 


103  Minister  of  the  navy  in  1780.     Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  77 

3d  of  May,  1756;  entered  the  service  in  1766;  captain  the 
4th  of  April,  1774;  made  the  campaign  of  America  as 
m&ttre  de  camp  en  second  of  the  regiment  of  Saintonge,  a 
rank  he  had  obtained  the  23d  of  May,  1779.  He  showed 
much  zeal  and  courage  in  all  circumstances,  according  to  the 
report  of  Rochambeau.  He  left  Brest  with  the  expeditionary 
corps,  and  embarked  on  the  Jaxon  with  Dumas,  Charles  de 
Lameth,  and  Ferscn ;  then,  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown, 
he  returned  to  France  the  25th  of  October,  1781,  on  the 
Andromaque,  witli  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts,  the  Count  de 
Damas,  and  the  Marquis  de  Laval,  to  bear  the  news  of  the 
success  of  the  expedition.  They  had,  however,  been  antici 
pated  by  de  Lauzun. 

He  emigrated  during  the  French  Revolution,  and  dial  peer 
of  France  in  KS42.104 

CIIASTELLUX  (Francois- Jean,  Chevalier  de),  known  by  the 
title  of  Marquis,  which  he  took  only  in  17S4.  He  had  be 
fore  that  only  the  title  of  Chevalier,  which  Lauzun  calls 
him  by,  and  which  he  calls  himself  by  in  his  Voyage*. 
Horn  at  Paris  in  1734,  died  in  17SS.  Entered  the  service 
in  174!),  at  the  age  of  fifteen  ;  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  his 
name  at  the  age  of  twenty-one;  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
la  Marche  in  1750;  brigadier  in  170-1;  made'  the  campaigns 
of  Germany;  went  to  America  with  the  title  of  major-general 
in  the  army  of  Rochambeau  in  17-^0,  and  devoted  himself 
especially,  during  his  stay,  to  studying  the  territory  of  the 
revolted  colonies  and  the  customs  of  the  Americans.  His 
observations  have  been  published  in  two  volumes  of  Memoirs, 


104 On  the  frigate  the  Amazone  there  were,  besides  de  Charltis,  the 
Viscount  de  Rochambeau  and  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts.  The  Amim- 
maque,  which  left  the  31st  of  October,  only  took  nineteen  days  to  cross. 
The  Engageante  arrived  at  Lorient  four  days  later ;  it  had  had  a  pas 
sage  of  twenty-two  days,  and  came  from  Boston.  (J/mv/n1  </<  France, 
1781.) 


78  The  French  in  America. 

under  the  title  of  Voyages  daus  I'Amerique  Septentrionale  en 
1780-81-82,  Paris  1786,  in  8°.105 

He  was  present  at  the  principal  conferences  of  Count  de 
Rochambeau  with  Washington,  and  also  at  the  first  interview 
of  the  American  generalissimo  with  Count  de  Grasse,  on  the 
Ville  de  Paris,  before  the  attack  on  Yorktown,  together  with 
General  Knox  and  du  Portail.  Lauzuu  reproaches  him  for 
his  frivolity  in  his  Memoirs,  and  it  is  strange  to  see  such  a 
judgment  by  the  man  who  was  considered  the  least  serious 
in  the  whole  army.  He  did,  at  any  rate,  nothing  of  im 
portance  during  the  campaign,  except  that  he  repulsed  with 
a  reserve  corps  the  six  hundred  English  who  were  making 
a  sortie  on  the  batteries  on  the  right  during  the  night  of  the 
15th  to  the  16th  of  October,  before  Yorktown.  He  com 
manded,  with  the  Baron  de  Viomenil,  the  retreat  of  the  troops 
in  1782.  He  returned  afterwards  to  France  ahead  of  the 
army  and  at  the  same  time  as  de  Rochambeau,  de  Beville, 
and  the  staif. 

He  was  appointed  marechal  de  camp  immediately  after  his 
arrival.  Since  1775  he  was  member  of  the  French  Acad 
emy.106  He  married  in  1787  an  accomplished  woman  of  Irish 
extraction,  Miss  Plunkett,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  at 
the  baths  of  Spa.  Washington  sent  him  his  congratulations 
in  a  letter  which  we  find  in  his  correspondence.  But  this 
marriage  was  not  happy  and  a  year  after  the  marquis  died. 
His  fortune  was  doubtless  lost  during  the  Revolution,  for  in 
1795  his  widow  asked  help  from  the  American  Government 
for  herself  and  her  son,  invoking  the  remembrance  of  the 


106  This  book  has  been  translated  into  English,  with  interesting  and 
instructive  notes.  Travels  in  North  America  in  the  years  1780-1-2,  by 
the  Marquis  de  Chastellux.  2  vols.  Dublin,  1787.  Translated  by  an 
English  gentleman  who  resided  in  America  at  that  period. 

106 De  Chastellux  also  published,  among  other  books:  Discours  sur 
les  avantages  qui  peuvent  resulter  pour  V Europe  de  la  decouverte  de  I 'Amcr- 
igue,  Paris,  1787.  Itiscours  en  vers  adresse  aux  offitiers  et  soldats  Ameri- 
cains,  Paris,  1786. 


List  of  Officers.  79 

services    performed    by   her    husband.     This    petition    had   no 
result.     He  was  a  member  of  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Blanchard  says  in  his  diary  :  "  He  was  received,  he  told 
me,  associate  member  of  the  Academy  of  Philadelphia.  He 
has  had  printed  in  two  volumes  the  account  of  his  journey, 
and  one  can  find  there  a  few  agreeable  details,  but  much 
minutiae,  mediocre  jokes  and  praise,  often  ill  deserved,  of 
people  who  had  flattered  him.  Brissot  de  Warville  wrote  a 
bitter  criticism  on  this  work." 

CIIAUSSEE.     See  YARIN. 

CHAUSSEPIKD  enlisted  as  private  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois 
in  1757,  made  the  campaigns  of  Germany  during  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  was  appointed  sub-lieutenant  in  177-),  and  made 
with  his  regiment  the  campaigns  of  America.  He  took  part 
in  the  sieges  of  Savannah  and  Yorktown. 

CIIAZELLE  DE  BARQUES  (Antoine),  born  the  23d  of  No 
vember,  1752,  at  Sales  in  Auvergne  ;  made  the  campaign  of 
1780-81  in  America,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant  of  Bour- 
bonnais.  During  the  sortie  which  the  English  made,  during 
the  siege  of  Yorktown,  against  the  battery  on  the  right,  dur 
ing  the  night  of  the  loth  to  the  10th  of  October,  1781,  he 
was  dangerously  wounded  and  remained  crippled. 

CHENXEVIERES  (Guillaume),  born  the  llth  of  June,  1734, 
at  P Hermitage  in  Normandy;  enlisted  as  private  in  1754;  ap 
pointed  officer  in  1707,  and  made  the  expedition  of  America 
as  captain  en  second  of  the  grenadiers  of  Bourbonnais.  He 
distinguished  himself  before  Yorktown,  and  obtained  a  pen 
sion  of  three  hundred  livres. 

CIIESXE  (Du)  or  DrniESNE,  entered  the  service  in  1758; 
made  two  campaigns  in  Germany,  four  at  the  lie  de  France; 


80  The  French  in  America. 

went  to  America  with  Rochambeau  as  captain-commandant  of 
the  regiment  of  Saintonge. 

CHESNEL,  commissary  of  war  of  the  expedition  of  Ro- 
chambeau  under  the  orders  of  Blanchard.107 

CHEVIGNY  (Bien  de).     See  BIEN. 

CHEZE  (De  la),  an  officer  of  artillery ;  made  the  campaigns 
of  1780,  81,  82,  and  83  on  the  American  continent.  He 
was  very  intimate  with  Blanchard,  with  whom  he  lived.108 

CHILLEAU  (Marquis  de),  colonel  of  the  Viennois  regiment ; 
distinguished  himself  at  the  capture  of  Saint  Domingo109  under 
Bouille",  the  7th  of  September,  1778.  There  were  in  all  two 
thousand  men  in  this  attack  ;  they  were  drawn  from  the  Aux- 
errois  and  Viennois  regiments,  to  whom  were  added  a  hun 
dred  volunteers.  After  the  capture  of  the  island  de  Chilleau 
was  intrusted  to  guard  it  with  eight  hundred  men.  He  was 
also  at  the  capture  of  Tabago,  the  2d  of  June.  1780. 

CHOISY  (De),  entered  the  service  in  1741,  was  major  in 
1763,  lieutenant-colonel  in  1767,  brigadier  in  1772,  mestre 
de  camp  in  the  fourth  regiment  of  chasseurs  in  1779,  and 
resigned  this  rank  in  order  to  go  to  America.  "He  was 
very  brave,  and  feared  nothing,"  says  Lauzun,  "  but  had  a 
quick  and  violent  temper."  He  obtained  all  his  promotions 
by  deeds  of  valor,  and  had  distinguished  himself  especially 
in  Germany  at  the  defense  of  Cracow,  where  he  requested  to 
serve  with  the  expeditionary  corps  of  Rochambeau. 

He  arrived  at  Newport  on  the  30th  of  September,  1780,  on 
the  Gentille,  with  nine  other  officers,  after  having  touched  at 

107  Etats  Militaires. 

108 , Journal  of  Blanchard. 

109  Dominica.    Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  81 

Cape  Francais,  Saint  Domingo.  The  brothers  Berthier  were 
with  him.110 

While  the  expeditionary  eorps  was  going  first  to  New  York, 
then  to  Yorktown,  he  was  charged  with  guarding  the  fleet 
and  stores  at  Rhode  Island,  with  one  thousand  American  mil 
itiamen  and  five  hundred  French  soldiers.  At  the  news  of 
the  arrival  of  the  allied  armies  at  Yorktown  he  left  a  hun 
dred  men  at  Providence,  under  command  of  Dcsprez,  major 
of  Deux-Ponts.  Then  he  embarked  with  five  hundred  men 
and  all  the  artillery  on  the  ten  vessels  which  composed  the 
squadron  under  the  command  of  de  Barras,  on  the  21st  of 
August,  1781,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  action  between  de 
Grasse  and  Admiral  Graves,  he  penetrated  into  Chesapeake 
Bay,  and  landed  his  men  and  stores  in  sight  of  the  French 
camp.  The  27th  of  September  he  left  Williainsburg  to  take 
command  of  the  siege  on  the  side  of  Gloucester,  until  then 
intrusted  to  the  too  pacific  General  Weedon.  He  took  some 
artillery  there  undisturbed,  and  assembled  under  his  orders  the 
one  thousand  American  militiamen  under  command  of  Weedon, 
the  legion  of  Lauzun,  and  eight  hundred  men  taken  from  the 
marines  of  the  ships  furnished  by  de  Grasse.  The  Ameri 
can  general  henceforth  had  only  a  nominal  authority  in  that 
quarter.  Moreover,  Weedon,  at  first  scared  by  the  audacity 
and  the  bravery  of  the  French  commander,  which  he  called 
foolhardiness,  never  for  a  moment  thought  of  taking  his  place 
at  the  head  of  the  troops  on  the  battlefield,  nor  to  eonte>t  the 
authority  which  de  Choisy  had  taken  in  the  camp. 

De  Choisy,  in  an  impetuous  charge  which  he  made  with  the 
legion  of  Lauzun,  broke  up  the  cavalry  of  Tarleton  ;  he  op 
posed  afterwards  the  attempts  at  flight  of  Lord  Cornwallis,  and 
after  having  advanced  his  outposts  up  to  the  walls  of  Glouces 
ter,  he  was  preparing  an  assault  on  that  side  when  he  learned 
that  the  articles  of  surrender  were  signed.  He  was  appointed 


Mercnre  de  Prance,  1781. 


82  The  French  in  America. 

marcchal  de  camp  and  promised  the  governorship  of  a  fortified 
town. 

CHRISTOPHE  (Henri),  King  of  Hayti  in  1767,  committed 
suicide  in  1820;  received  a  wound  at  the  siege  of  Savannah. 

CLAIRAUD  (De),  infantry  officer,  killed  at  the  naval  action 
off  Grenada,  the  7th  of  July,  1779. 

CLAVIS,  enlisted  as  private  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais 
in  1749,  passed  through  all  the  lower  grades,  and  was  appointed 
officer  in  1769.  He  received  several  wounds. 

CLOCHETTERIE  (De  la),  captain  of  the  ship  the  Jason;  left 
Brest  with  the  squadron  under  command  of  de  Ternay  ;  dis 
tinguished  himself  in  a  number  of  actions,  especially  at  the  one 
which  was  fought  on  the  16th  of  March,  1781,  by  Destouche, 
in  Chesapeake  Bay. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  English  vessel  the  Aretlmsa 
attacked  the  Belle-Poide,  commanded  by  de  la  Clochetterie.  He 
sustained  gloriously  the  unequal  fight,  and  forced  his  antagonist 
to  fly  ;  he  brought  back  to  Brest  his  frigate  riddled  with  shot 
and  a  crew  reduced  to  one-half.  He  was  received  with  enthu 
siasm  by  the  people  and  the  court. 

CLOZEN  (Jean-Christophe-Louis-Frederic-Ignace,  Baron  de), 
born  the  14th  of  August,  1752;  entered  as  sub-lieutenant  the 
regiment  of  Eoyal-Deux-Ponts  the  10th  of  September,  1769  ; 
captain  en  second  the  4th  of  April,  1780;  made  the  expedition 
of  America  as  aid-de-camp  of  de  Rochambeau.  He  was  very 
intimate  with  Cromot  Dubourg. 


(Franyois-Marie-Casimir-Franquetot  de),  general, 
son  of  the  duke  of  that  name,  born  in  1756,  died  the  27th 
of  January,  1816;  served  in  America  under  the  orders  of  de 


List  of  Officers.  83 

Bouille;  came  back  to  France  and  returned  in  the  beginning 
of  1782.  He  was  made  marechal  de  camp  the  9th  of  March, 
1788;  emigrated  during  the  Terror,  then  returned  to  France. 

COLERUS  (Chretien  de),  serving  with  the  rank  of  major  the 
19th  of  September,  1776.111 

COL.LOT,  entered  the  service  in  1765,  captain  in  1778,  at 
tached  to  the  regiment  of  Bercheny.112  Nephew  and  aid-de 
camp  of  Rochambeau  during  the  expedition  of  1781.  He 
embarked  on  the  same  vessel  as  Dumas,  who  mentions  him. 

COLOMBE  (Chevalier  de  la),  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the 
American  service  ;  left  France  with  La  Fayette,  to  whom  he 
was  aid-de-camp.  He  was  breveted  captain  by  Congress  the 
16th  of  November,  1777.  In  January,  1779,  La  Fayette, 
about  to  start  for  France,  wrote  to  Washington  a  letter  to 
recommend  de  la  Colombe  and  ask  for  him  a  brevet  of  major. 
At  the  end  of  the  war  de  la  Colombe  returned  to  France  and 
was  employed  by  the  Republican  Government. 

He  was  made  prisoner  with  La  Fayette,  in  17^'J,  by  the 
Prince  of  Coburg,  and  shut  up  in  the  citadel  of  Olmutz. 
He  was  released,  and  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  await 
events.113 

Cox  WAY  (Thomas),  born  in  173,"),  in  Ireland  ;  lieutenant 
in  an  Irish  regiment  in  the  French  service  in  1747;  served 
in  the  German  war  from  1760  to  1761.  In  January,  1777, 
he  went  to  America  on  the  Aiupliitritc,  fitted  out  by  Beau- 
marchais,  who  recommended  to  him  his  nephew,  des  Kpiniercs, 
also  a  volunteer  in  the  service  of  the  Americans.114  He  was 


11  Arch.     Sparks. 

112  For  subsequent  history  of  this  regiment  see  Mrmoires  <>f  Duron  de 
Marbot,  who  at  first  served  in  the  hussars  of  Bercheny.     K.  S.  1>. 

113  Pontgibaud. 

114  Lomenie. 


84  The  French  in  America. 

commissioned  by  Congress  the  13th  of  May,  1777.115  It  is 
by  an  error  that  the  translator  of  the  memoirs  of  Gouverneur 
Morris  says  that  he  came  with  La  Fayette.116  He  served 
under  the  orders  of  La  Fayette,  and  commanded  a  division 
at  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine  and  at  Germantown. 

Congress,  fearing  the  influence  of  a  military  chief,  and  be 
ing  actuated  by  jealousy,  often  annoyed  Washington.  The 
most  detestable  intrigues  were  at  work  to  replace  General 
Washington  by  General  Gates  or  General  Charles  Lee.  In 
these  intrigues  we  find  the  names  of  Conway,  Joseph  Reed, 
and  others.117  The  conspirators  even  forged  letters,  which 
were  accredited  to  Washington.118  No  doubt  these  miserable 
intrigues  were  kept  up  by  the  English,  who  had  discovered 
that  to  displace  or  suspend  Genwal  Washington  would  be  to 
finish  the  war.  This  was  also  the  real  aim  of  Arnold's  trea 
son,  and  we  know  to-day  that  it  was  declared  in  the  English 
camp  that  no  reward  could  have  paid  so  important  a  serv 
ice™  Fortunately,  all  the  plots  to  accomplish  this  end  failed, 
including  the  conspiracy  of  Arnold. 

"  Ambitious  and  dangerous,"  says  La  Fayette  of  Con  way, 
"  he  wished  to  put  General  Gates  and  Washington  in  compe 
tition.  His  intrigues  in  this  direction  having  become  known 
to  the  latter,120  an  explanation  followed,  after  which  he  re 


signed." 


This  resignation  was  handed  in  three  times,  and  only  ac 
cepted  the  fourth  time  by  Congress,  which  was  most  unworth 
ily  disposed  to  create  troubles  for  Washington.  Conway  was 
wounded  in  1779  in  a  duel  with  General  John  Cadwalader, 


115  Auberteuil. 

116  Memorial  de  Gouverneur  Morris,  traduit  de  J.  Sparks,  par  Augustin 
Gandais.     Paris,  1842.     I.,  128. 

117  See  Vol.  I.,  page  82. 

118  June  and  July,  1776 ;  reprinted  in  1795. 

119  See  Vol.  I.,  pages  68,  82,  116,  124,  and  the  authorities  mentioned. 

120  The  letter  of  Joseph   Reed  to   Charles  Lee  only  became   known 
after  the  death  of  Washington.     Irving  II.,  284. 


Li,st  of  Officers.  85 

of  New  Jersey,  who  had  sharply  criticised  his  conduct.  The 
American  officer  wounded  Conway  with  a  bullet  which  en 
tered  his  right  jaw  and  came  out  through  his  neck.121  Think 
ing  he  was  going  to  die,  Conway  wrote  a  repentant  letter  to 
Washington.  All  the  men  who  led  these  intrigues  fell  into 
contempt  sooner  or  later.  After  he  had  recovered  his  health 
he  abandoned  the  cause  of  the  Americans.122 

Finally  he  returned  to  serve  in  France.  He  received,  in 
1779,  the  rank  of  aid-major-general  in  the  army  of  Flan 
ders.  Colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Pondichery  in  1781,  mare- 
cJicd  de  camp  in  1784,  governor-general  of  the  French  sta 
tions  in  India  in  1787.  He  was  still  living  in  1792. 

COPPIN  DE  LA  GARDE  enlisted  as  volunteer;  recommended 
for  some  position  in  the  division  of  General  Sullivan  the 
26th  of  May,  1777. 


(Rcne-Anne-Gilbert-Fran9ois  dc  la),  born  the 
llth  of  February,  1742,  at  Saint-Martin  de  Juliers,  near 
Avranches  ;  entered  the  service  in  1701  ;  went  to  the  col 
onies  with  the  regiment  of  Agenois,  in  which  he  was  captain, 
and  distinguished  himself  before  Yorktown.  He  was  deco 
rated  after  this  campaign. 

CORBIERE  (Antoine-Madeleine  dc  la),  brother  of  the  former, 
born  at  Avranches  in  1743,  was  also  decorated  for  his  con 
duct  before  Yorktown. 

CORIOLIS.  —  This  family  furnished  several  defenders  to  the 
American  cause.123  They  were  : 

CORIOLIS  (Jcan-Baptiste-Elzear,  Chevalier  de),  cadet  of  an 
ancient  and  illustrious  family  of  Provence,  born  the  18th  of 


mAuberteuil  II.,  277. 

m!779. 

''^  Manuscripts  furnished  by  M.  Maurice  La  Cheenais. 


86  The  French  in  America. 

May,  1754,  at  Aix ;  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Bour- 
bonnais  the  7th  of  April,  1773,  lieutenant  the  29th  of  De 
cember,  1777.  He  embarked  at  Brest  at  the  same  time  as 
the  expeditionary  corps  of  Rocbambeau  on  the  transport "  the 
Isle-de-France,  which  carried  three  hundred  and  fifty  men  of 
his  regiment.  He  distinguished  himself  before  Yorktown,  ac 
cording  to  the  army  reports.  He  was  the  brother-in-law  of 
War  Commissioner  Blanchard,  who  speaks  of  him  Avith  much 
esteem  in  his  Journal  de  la  Campagne  d'Amerique. 

The  Chevalier  de  Coriolis  was  appointed  captain  after  his 
return  from  America,  the  15th  of  July,  1784.  He  entered  with 
this  rank  the  constitutional  guard  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth  the 
13th  of  November,  1791.  This  corps  having  been  disbanded 
the  30th  of  May,  1792,  Coriolis  remained  none  the  less  de 
voted  to  the  king,  and  defended  him  as  a  volunteer  at  the 
Tuileries  during  the  10th  of  August,  1792.  He  retired  to 
Nancy  during  the  Terror,  and  married  there.  He  re-entered 
the  service  under  the  Empire,  and  in  1809  made  the  cam 
paign  of  Holland  as  captain-commandant  of  the  reserve  com 
pany  of  the  Meurthe.  He  died  the  15th  of  February,  181 1.124 

His  son,  Gustave  Coriolis,  who  died  in  1842,  was  a  cel 
ebrated  French  scientist.  His  works  on  Rational  Mechan 
ic^  brought  him  membership  in  the  Institute  of  France. 
The  Chevalier  de  Coriolis  also  left  a  daughter,  who  married 
the  learned  physicist  Peclet,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  cen 
tral  school  of  arts  and  manufactures. 

124The  Chevalier  de  Coriolis  left  an  unpublished  manuscript  describ 
ing  a  few  episodes  of  his  return  from  the  expedition  of  America,  with 
the  troops  under  the  command  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil.  The  most 
interesting  portion  of  this  manuscript  was  published  as  a  separate 
pamphlet  in  1870  by  M.  Maurice  La  Chesnais.  It  is  the  stirring  ac 
count  of  the  shipwreck  of  the  French  vessel,  the  Bouryognc,  of  seventy- 
four  guns,  on  the  coast  of  New  Spain.  Part  of  the  crew  and  of  the 
passengers  perished,  and  the  Chevalier  de  Coriolis  only  escaped  with 
difficulty  from  a  similar  fate. 

125  M&canique  Rationnellc. 


JM  of  Officers.  87 

CORIOLIS  (Pierre-Gabriel-Xavier,  Chevalier  de),  brother  of 
the  former,  entered  the  royal  school  of  artillery  of  Grenoble 
the  1st  of  April,  1704;  second  lieutenant  of  the  regiment  of 
artillery  of  Grenoble  the  15th  of  January,  1767;  sub-lieu 
tenant  of  the  second  company  of  artillerymen-bombardiers  at 
Saint  Domingo  the  19th  of  September,  1770.  Resigned  the 
1st  of  May,  1775,  and  entered  the  navy. 

The  1st  of  April,  1780,  de  Coriolis,  in  command  of  the 
brig  the  Heros,  sailed  from  Cape  Conserve  at  Saint  Domingo, 
and  was  chased  by  a  privateer,  of  strength  superior  to  his 
own,  who  came  up  with  him.  The  fight  which  took  place 
was  so  severe  that  one-third  of  the  crew  of  the  Hcros  was 
disabled.  De  Coriolis  himself  was  severely  wounded  in  the 
head  by  a  grape  shot.  After  trying  to  board  several  times, 
which  the  enemy  avoided,  de  Coriolis  succeeded  in  getting 
away.  He  made  several  captures  on  the  same  vessel.  The 
20th  of  March,  1781,  pursued,  then  caught  again  by  a  ves 
sel  stronger  than  the  Heros,  he  captured  it  by  boarding,  after 
having  been  wounded  in  the  thigh  and  the  hand.126 

Captain  of  a  fireship  the  12th  of  January,  1782  ;  naval 
lieutenant  the  1st  of  May,  1780.  On  leave  the  2d  of  May, 
1780.  Was  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis  from  the  5th  of  August, 
1780. 

Gabriel  de  Coriolis,  having  left  the  service  in  178'.),  with 
drew  to  the  lie  de  France,  now  Mauritius,  where  his  son, 
aged  eighty,  still  lives  with  his  family,  who  is  entirely  set 
tled  there*.127 

COKIOLLS  D'ESPINOUSE  (Commandeur  de),  a  relative  of 
the  former,  became  chief  of  squadron  during  the  War  of  In 
dependence.  He  took  part  in  the  principal  naval  actions  of 
the  war,  and  distinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  Dominica. 


Archives  of  the  Navy. 
1870.     E.  S.  B. 


88  The  French  in  America. 

CORNET  (Le)  enlisted  as  private  in  the  regiment  of  Gati- 
nais  in  1769,  sergeant  in  1789;  marched  at  the  head  of  the 
attacking  column  of  the  principal  redoubt  of  the  English  at 
York  town.  He  was  charged  with  Sergeant  Foret,  of  the  same 
regiment,  to  direct  the  sappers  or  axe-bearers  who  were  to 
break  down  the  palissades. 

CORNY  (Louis-Dominique-lSthis  de),  commissary  of  war, 
who  started  with  La  Fayette  from  Rochefort  two  weeks  be 
fore  the  squadron  which  was  at  Brest  under  command  of  de 
Ternay,  to  announce  to  the  Americans  the  succors  promised 
by  France  and  to  prepare  for  the  landing  in  Rhode  Island.128 

He  did  not  belong  to  the  expedition  under  the  command 
of  Rochambeau,  and  he  was  sent  with  the  Marquis  de  La 
Fayette  when  the  latter  left,  because  de  Corny  happened  to 
be  at  Versailles  just  then,  and  because,  as  time  was  short,  it 
was  not  possible  to  send  to  Brest  to  inform  either  Blanchard 
or  any  one  else.  "  Pie  brought  about  large  expenditures,"  says 
Blanchard,  "  and  was  not  of  much  assistance."  Blanchard 
adds  later  in  his  diary  :  "  He  left  in  the  first  days  of  Feb 
ruary,  1781,  for  France,  on  the  Alliance.  He  was  a  clever 
man,  but  intriguing  and  grasping.  He  went  away  because 
there  was  nothing  for  him  to  do.  Still  his  stay  in  America, 
short  as  it  had  been,  had  not  hurt  his  success." 

De  Corny  was  better  known  as  a  writer  under  the  name 
of  £this.  He  was  born  at  Metz  in  1738,  and  was  at  first 
a  lawyer  at  the  bar  of  that  town.  He  kept  up  a  regular 
correspondence  with  Voltaire,  at  Ferney. 

On  his  return  from  America  he  was  appointed  attorney  of 
the  king.  He  was  in  favor  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  one 
of  the  commissaries  sent  by  the  people  to  summon  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  Bastile  to  open  its  gates  on  the  14th  of  July, 
1789.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1790. 


128  Mcmoires  of  La  Fayette. 


List  of  Officers.  89 

CORTE,  medical  director  of  the  expeditionary  corps,  went 
to  visit  the  hospital  prepared  by  de  Corny  at  Rhode  Island 
immediately  after  the  landing  of  the  expeditionary  corps.  He 
was  with  Blanchard  and  Demars.  He  showed  much  zeal  after 
the  capture  of  Yorktown,  and  took  care,  with  the  same  devo 
tion,  of  both  allies  and  enemies. 

COTTINEAU  DE  ViLOGUENE  (de),  captain  of  the  Pallas  in 
the  action  between  the  lionhomme  Richard  and  the  Serapis. 

CoUDE  (Louis-Marie),  rear-admiral,  born  at  Auray  the  17th 
of  December,  1752,  died  at  Pontivy  in  1822. 

His  father  intended  him  for  the  priesthood,  but  he  ran  away 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  and  embarked  at  Lorient  as  assistant 
pilot.  Ensign  in  1775;  lieutenant  of  the  frigate  the  Iphigenie 
in  177<S,  he  went  to  cruise  on  the  coasts  of  New  England. 
Me  made  an  expedition  to  Senegal  in  1779,  and  was  wounded 
in  an  encounter  by  the  explosion  of  a  package  of  cartridges. 

In  1780  Coude  took,  at  Brest,  command  of  the  ISaumon,  a 
rapid-sailing  brig,  which,  during  the  three  years  he  passed  in 
the  Antilles,  served  successively  as  scouting  ship  for  de  Ter- 
nay,  de  I5urras,  and  de  Gnusse,  and  Coude  was  present,  there 
fore,  at  the  various  naval  actions  fought  bv  these  officers. 

He  re-entered  the  merchant  navy  at  the  peace,  and  re 
called  to  the  service  of  the  State  in  1792  as  nuval  lieutenant, 
he  distinguished  himself  by  the  most  glorious  struggles  against 
the  English.  Naval  (Captain  in  1793.  Prisoner  of  the  English 
from  1795  to  1790,  and  from  1805  to  1814.  Rear-admiral 
on  his  return,  and  retired  in  that  rank. 

COULANGE  (Scot  de).     See  SCOT. 

COUSSIN  (Dc),  entered  the  service  in  1763,  captain  en  sec 
ond  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais  in  1781  ;  had  made  with 
distinction  the  campaign  of  Corsica,  where  he  was  wounded, 
and  kept  up  before  Yorktown  his  reputation  for  courage. 


90  The  French  in  America. 

COUSSOL,  D'ESPARTAC,  captain-commandant  of  Bourbonnais  ; 
made  the  campaigns  of  Germany  and  of  America. 

CROMOT  DuBOURG129  (Marie-Fra^ois-  Joseph-Maxime,  Baron), 
born  at  Versailles  the  28th  of  April,  1756.  The  reports  of  his 
services  at  the  ministry  of  war  say :  volunteer  in  the  dragoons 
of  La  Rochefoucauld  in  1768  ;  rank  of  sub-lieutenant  in  the 
dragoons  of  Monsieur  in  1770  ;  sub-lieutenant  of  infantry  in 
1772;  captain  in  1774;  put  on  the  waiting  list  in  1776,  at 
his  request. 

He  was  permitted  to  go  to  America  to  join  the  expeditionary 
corps  as  aid-de-camp  to  Rochambeau;  but  he  did  not  leave 
on  the  fleet  under  the  command  of  the  Chevalier  de  Ternay, 
for  Blanchard  says  positively  in  his  diary  :  "  Cromot  Dubourg 
only  left  later."  He  says  himself  that  he  embarked  at  Brest 
on  the  Concorde,  in  March,  1781,  at  the  same  time  as  Vis 
count  de  Rochambeau  and  the  new  chief  of  squadron,  de 
Barras.  His  conduct  before  the  capture  of  Yorktown  brought 
him,  after  its  successful  issue,  the  rank  of  assistant-quarter 
master-general  of  the  army,  with  which  rank  he  made  the 
campaigns  of  1782  and  1783.  He  returned  to  France  and 
became  successively  major  in  1783,  lieutenant-colonel  in  1787, 
colonel  in  1788. 

The  political  events  found  him  devoted  to  royalty.  He 
handed  in  his  resignation  in  1790,  emigrated,  and  was  aid-de 
camp  of  Monsieur  (Louis  the  Eighteenth)  in  the  army  of  the 
princes  in  1792  ;  then  he  was  a  volunteer  in  the  corps  of 
Williamson  in  1795  and  1796. 

On  the  return  of  the  Bourbons  he  was  retired  as  colonel, 
and  in  1826  was  appointed  honorary  marechal  de  camp.  He 
died  the  26th  of  April,  1836.  He  was  member  of  the  order 
of  the  Cincinnati  and  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis. 


129  Manuscripts   lent  to    me   by  his  grandson,    the   Baron  Varaigne 
Dubourg,  and  by  M.  Camille  Rousset,  of  the  French  Academy. 


List  of  Officers.  91 

Cromot  Dubourg  left  an  unpublished  diary  of  his  first  cam 
paign  in  America  in  1781,  of  which  I  have  a  copy,  but  of 
which  the  original  has  been  lost  or  mislaid.130 

CROZAT  DE  SARRAZIN  (Jean-Francis),  born  at  Vionnc, 
Isere,  the  7th  of  January,  1733;  captain  of  the  regiment  of 
Touraine  in  1778;  killed  on  the  squadron  of  de  Guichen  the 
15th  of  May,  1780. 

CUSTINE  (  Adam-Phil  ippe-Jarreck,  Count  de),  born  at  Metz 
the  4th  of  February,  1740  ;  entered  the  service  in  1747  ;  sub 
lieutenant  at  the  age  of  seven,  lie  took  part,  at  the  age 
of  eight,  in  1748,  in  the  campaign  of  Germany131  under  Mar 
shal  Saxe.  Captain  of  dragoons  in  1  7-">8  ;  mcxtrc  dc  wimp  in 
1 7(>3  ;  brigadier  in  1780.  He  served  with  distinction  in  the 
Seven  Years'  War. 

After  this  war  the  Duke  de  Choiseul,  who  favored  him, 
created  for  him  a  regiment  of  dragoons  by  the  name  of  ( 'us- 
tine.  He  exchanged  this  regiment  for  a  regiment  of  inihntrv, 
which  was  going  to  America;  it  was,  I  think,  the  regiment  of 
Saintonge.  It  was  under  his  orders  that  the  infantry  of  Lau- 
zun's  legion  embarked  at  Head  of  Elk,  went  to  Annapolis, 
where  it  stopped  two  days,  then  reached  Cape  Ilenrv.  Be 
fore  Yorktown  he  was  always  in  the  trenches  every  second 
day,  because  he  was  the  only  brigadier,  and  Rochambcaii 
praises  in  his  reports  his  zeal,  his  courage,  his  talents,  and  his 
honesty. 

On  his  return  to  France  he  became  iii<tr<'<-/t(t/  <1c  camp  and 
governor  of  Toulon.  Deputy  from  Lorraine  to  the  State-  Gen 
eral  of  1781),  he  favored  the  Revolution,  which  put  him  at  the 
head  of  the  Army  of  the  Rhine  in  17(,)'_>.  At  first  he  had 
some  successes  ;  but,  forced  to  retire  before  the'  Prussians,  he 
was  recalled  to  Paris  and  guillotined  the  -J8th  of  August,  1793. 


130  See  Vol    1.,  pages  P_>,  13,  and  14,  and  page  141. 

131  Flanders.     Marginal  note. 


92  The  French  in  America. 

The  good  opinion  which  Rochambeau  had  of  Custine  was,  they 
say,  exaggerated.  He  was,  doubtless,  a  good  officer,  but  he 
has  been  reproached  for  his  bad  temper  and  his  excessive 
severity.132  It  is,  moreover,  extremely  difficult  to  judge  a  no 
table  man  by  the  invariably  partial  reports  of  his  contempo 
raries.133  This  is  almost  impossible  in  an  epoch  of  revolution, 
where  partisanship  destroys  all  sense  of  justice. 

D. 

DALPHERAN  (Felix),  born  the  6th  of  April,  1744;  sub 
lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais  in  1781.  He  made 
the  campaigns  of  1780-81-82-83  in  America,  and  was  pres 
ent  at  the  capture  of  Yorktown.134 


N  (M.),  naval  lieutenant,  who  came  on  the  Con 
corde  with  de  Barras.135 

DAMAS  (Joseph-Fran9ois-Louis-Charles,  Count  de),  of  the 
older  branch  of  the  Damas  d'Anlezi,  the  only  one  surviving 
to-day  ;  born  in  1758  ;  served  since  the  9th  of  February,  1777, 
and  entered  as  second  lieutenant  the  infantry  regiment  of  the 
king.  He  went  then  to  America  in  the  position  of  aid-de 
camp  of  de  Rochambeau,  and  distinguished  himself  during  the 
entire  campaign  of  1781.  The  29th  of  April,  1781,  he  ob- 


132  De  Custine  left  a  diary  of  his  journey   in  North   America,  says 
Blanchard.    The  latter  relates  in  his  own  diary,  the  17th  of  February, 
1781,  that  these   memoirs  are  accurate  and  very  sensible.    It  is  not 
known  what  became  of  this  diary  of  Custine,  but  from  what  Blanchard 
says   of  it,   it   only    contained   analogous   observations  to  those  of  de 
Chastellux  about   General  Washington,  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  the 
United  States,  the  climate,  &c. 

133  The  diary   of  Blanchard   relates   an  anecdote   about   this  which 
explains  the  judgment  of  the  soldiers  about  this  general.    See  in  the 
List  of  Officers :   Laforest.    See  also  the  Life  of  Custine,  by  one  of  his 
aids-de-camp,  1802.     His  character  and  his  conduct,  as  general,  are  very 
severely  judged  there. 

™ Archives  of  War. 
135  Blanchard. 


List  of  Officers.  93 

tained  the  title  of  colonel,  to  take  rank  from  the  1st  of 
September.  He  was  present  at  the  interview  at  Hartford 
between  Washington,  Rochambeau,  and  La  Fayette ;  had  a 
horse  killed  under  him  at  Morrisania  while  reeonnoitering  on 
the  23d  of  July,  1781,  and  took  part  in  the  attack  of  the 
great  redoubt  before  Yorktown,  although  he  had  not  been 
ordered  to  do  so,  and  against  the  advice  of  Guillaume  de 
Deux-Ponts,  who  commanded  the  attack.  He  returned  to 
France  on  the  26th  of  October,  1781,  with  de  Charlus,  Guil 
laume  de  Deux-Ponts,  and  de  Laval,  and  was  appointed 
gentleman  of  honor  of  the  Count  de  Provence.  Arrested  with 
Louis  the  Sixteenth  at  Varenncs,  he  succeeded  in  emigrating, 
fought  in  the  army  of  Cond6  against  his  country,  and  re 
mained  in  exile  the  faithful  companion  of  the  Bourbons,  who 
made  him  duke  and  peer  of  France  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Restau ration.  He  was  always  hostile  to  political  liberty.136 
He  died  in  1829. 

DAM  AS  (Claude-Charles,  Viscount  de  Pamas  de  Mar  iliac), 
served  in  the  campaigns  of  America  at  the  Windward  Islands 
during  the  War  of  Independence,  but  did  not  set  foot  on  the 
Continent.  He  was  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Auxerrois 
when  Bouille,  supported  by  the  fleet  of  d'Kstaing,  attacked 
Dominica  in  1778.  He  was  the  first  to  go  ashore  with 
his  chasseurs,  and  helped  in  capturing  the  island.  He  also 
took  an  active  part  in  the  capture  of  Tabago  on  the  2d  of 
June,  1780,  and  of  Saint  Christopher  in  February,  1782. 

He  was  not  a  brother  of  the  before  mentioned,  but  came 
from  another  branch  of  this  important  family.  lie  was  born 
at  Lyons  in  1731,  and  was  successively  ensign  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Beauce  in  17-18,  lieutenant  in  1752,  aid-major  in 


188 The  Count  de  Dumas  was  the  owner,  under  the  Restauration,  of 
the  Chateau  de  Livry,  near  Paris.  Louis  the  Eighteenth  slept  there 
the  18th  of  April,  1814,  the  night  before  his  entry  into  Paris.  Lcs  En 
virons  de  Paris,  by  A.  Joanne,  Hachette,  Paris,  1857.  K.  S.  B. 


94  The  French  in  America. 

1753,  captain  in  1755,  major  in  1763,  colonel  of  the  regi 
ment  of  Auxerrois  in  1776,  brigadier  of  infantry  in  1778, 
and  marechal  de  camp  in  1781,  the  5th  of  December.  He 
was  appointed  Governor  of  Martinique  in  1783,  then  Gov 
ernor  of  the  Windward  Islands.  He  repressed  vigorously  the 
revolts  at  Martinique  during  the  Revolution,  defeated  the  in 
surgents  at  Saint  Pierre  the  3d  of  June,  1790,  but  was  ac 
cused  by  Barnave  and  some  of  the  colonists  of  being  the 
cause  of  the  disturbances  and  of  having  asked  the  help  of 
the  English  of  Saint  Domingo.  Impeached  in  February, 
1791,  with  all  the  members  of  the  government  of  Martin 
ique,  he  was  set  free  after  being  cleared  of  the  charges.  He 
died  in  1800. 

DANETEVILLE  or  D'ANNETEVILLE  (Cantel),  major  in  the 
corps  of  engineers,  went  to  America  with  de  Rochambeau. 

D'AiJDiFREDY  or  DAUDIFREDY,  infantry  officer,  wounded 
at  Saint  Lucia  on  the  fleet  of  de  Guichen  the  J  9th  of  No 
vember,  1780. 

DAUKE  (Hector,  Count),  superintendent  of  the  food  supplies 
during  the  campaign  of  America,137  was  successively  chief  treas 
urer138  of  the  expeditionary  corps  to  Saint  Domingo  ;  then  in 
Egypt,  under  Bonaparte ;  minister  of  war  and  of  the  navy 
at  Naples ;  without  employment  under  the  Restauration ;  ap 
pointed,  after  1830,  director  of  the  administration  at  the  min 
istry  of  war. 

DAVIN,  "  former  very  distinguished  sergeant-major/'  says 
Dubourg,  who  engaged  him  in  June,  1776,  for  America, 
with  some  advance  pay,  the  journey  paid,  and  the  promise 
of  the  rank  of  captain. 


137  Blanchard. 

138  Ordonnaieur. 


of  Officers.  95 

DECATOURS  or  DECATUR  (James),  volunteer  French  lieu 
tenant  in  the  service  of  Congress.139  Perhaps  a  relation  of 
the  celebrated  Commodore  Stephen  Decatur,  of  the  American 
navy. 

DECRES  (Denis,  Duke),  vice-admiral,  minister  of  the  navy, 
born  at  Chaumont  in  17(>1,  died  in  1820,  at  Paris.  Em 
barked  as  candidate  guard  of  the  marines  in  1780  on  the 
Richmond,  of  the  squadron  of  de  Grasse.  He  took  part  in  all 
the  combats  which  this  fleet  had  to  sustain.  In  the  action  of 
the  12th  of  April,  1782,  he  went  in  a  boat,  under  fire  of  the 
English  fleet,  to  tow  the  ship  the  Glorieux,  whose  masts  had 
fallen,  out  of  the  danger  in  which  it  was  placed.  He  was 
then  appointed  naval  ensign.  Naval  lieutenant  in  178(>,  cap 
tain  in  1793.  He  was  deprived  of  his  position  on  account 
of  being  a  noble.  Chief  of  squadron  in  1 7W>,  rear-admiral 
in  1798,  minister  of  the  navy  from  1801  to  1814  and  during 
the  "Hundred  Days."  Retired  under  the  Restauration.  In 
1820  his  servant  stole  some  of  his  things,  and  blew  him  up 
in  l>ed  with  some  gunpowder.  The  servant  was  killed  and 
Decres  received  wounds  of  which  he  died. 

DKIDIKK,  surgeon-major  in  the  regiment  of  Agc'nois,  showed 
/eal  and  knowledge. 

DE  KALH.     See  KALH. 

DKLAUNAY  or  DE  LAUNAY.     Sec  LATNAV. 

DEMARS,  director  of  the  hospitals,  left  on  the  Ardent  with 
de  Villeman/y.140 

DESANDROINS  (Viscount),  brigadier-general  who  commanded 
the  corps  of  engineers  under  the  orders  of  de  Rochambeau 

^Records. 
140  Blancluird. 


96  The  French  in  America. 

during  the  campaign  of  1781.  Falling  sick  at  Williamsburg, 
he  was  obliged  to  intrust  the  care  of  the  work  to  du  Portail 
and  Querenet.  As  early  as  1740  he  had  left  for  Canada;  in 
May,  1756,  he  was  appointed  captain  of  engineers,  and  be 
came  the  aid-de-camp  and  the  secretary  of  Montcalm.  He  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  Ticonderoga  and  in  the  other  operations 
in  Canada;  brigadier  of  infantry  in  December,  1781;  chief 
of  brigade  in  the  engineers  and  chevalier  of  Malta  in  1789  ; 
member  of  the  National  Assembly  for  Calais.  He  was,  per 
haps,  a  member  of  the  Cincinnati. 

DESBORDES  entered  the  service  in  1755,  was  appointed 
captain  in  the  regiment  of  Touraine  in  1769,  and  made  the 
campaign  of  1781  in  America  as  captain-commandant. 

DES  FORETS.     See  LAFOREST. 

DESOTEUX  (Pierre-Marie-Felicite,  Baron  de),  born  in  1750, 
died  at  Lyons  in  1812.  Son  of  a  surgeon,  he  made  at  first 
a  few  journeys  in  Europe,  then  entered  the  service,  and  left 
for  America.  He  served  in  the  campaign  of  1781  in  the 
position  of  aid-de-camp  of  the  Chevalier  de  Viomenil,  and 
distinguished  himself  while  under  his  orders  at  the  attack  of 
the  redoubt  of  Yorktown.  He  was  captain  of  dragoons,  and 
aid-quartermaster-adjutant.141  He  embarked  the  following  year 
at  Boston  to  go  to  Porto  Cabello  with  de  Broglie,  Dumas, 
and  de  Segur,  who  mention  him  in  their  memoirs.  He  was 
especially  intimate  with  the  de  Larneths.  He  helped  the  side 
of  the  Revolution  in  France,  and  was  amidst  the  women  who 
went  to  Versailles  on  the  5th  of  October,  1789.  But,  wit 
nessing  the  progress  of  the  demagogues,  he  turned  towards 
the  Royalist  party,  served  as  staff  officer  to  de  Bouille,  and 


141  Desoteux  drew  the  two  geographical  charts  in  the  Voyages  of  de 
Chastellux.  See  preface  by  the  printer  of  that  work.  Paris,  1786. 
Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  97 

tried  to  help  the  flight  of  the  king.  He  emigrated,  returned 
and  emigrated  anew  after  the  10th  of  August.  He  landed 
in  Normandy,  with  a  mission  from  the  Count  d'Artois,  in 
July,  17«J4,  and  went  to  de  Puisaye,  who  eommanded  the 
Vendeens  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Loire,  and  who  made  him 
his  treasurer-general.  He  served  there  under  the  name  of 
Comudin.  A  treaty  of  pacification  having  been  signed  by 
him  on  the  20th  of  April,  1705,  at  La  Mabillais,  Hoche 
had  him  arrested  in  October  as  having  infringed  on  it.  He 
was  kept  under  arrest  at  Cherbourg,  then  at  Ham.  The 
Consulate  freed  him,  and  he  withdrew  to  his  estate  near 
Macon.  He  left  several  literary  works. 

DKSPEVKON  (Pierre),  born  the  24th  of  March,  17^4,  at 
Barthelemy,  in  the  Perche.  He  entered  the  service  in  1717, 
was  made  captain  in  1700,  and  major  in  the  regiment  of 
Touraine  the  24th  of  March,  1  7<SO.  He  showed  in  his  career 
much  valor  and  intelligence,  gave  up  a  considerable  fortune 
to  pass  to  America  with  de  Rochambeau,  and  obtained  a 
pension  for  his  conduct  in  front  of  Yorktown. 

DKSPRI:/  (Etienne-Philibert  de  Crassier),  born  at  Crassier, 
A  in,  the  IStli  of  January,  17o->,  died  about  ISOo  at  Ornaix.142 
He  entered  the  service  of  France  as  cadet  in  the  Swiss  regi 
ment  Yigier,  which  became  Chateauvieux  ;  he  was  in  succes 
sion  ensign  in  May,  174S,  sub-lieutenant  in  April,  1  7~>-l  ; 
passed  as  captain  to  l\oyal-Peux-Ponts  in  April,  17-">7;  then, 
during  the  campaign,  became  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  same 
regiment  in  June,  1702;  put  in  waiting143  in  1703  with  a 
pension  of  eight  hundred  //nvx,  he  was  appointed  major  of 
Deux-Ponts.144  He  made  with  this  rank  the  campaign  of 
America.  He  was  left,  with  a  hundred  men,  to  watch  the 


142  He  is  also  called  de  Prez  in  many  memoirs  and  books. 
141  Reform!'. 

144 


See  Deux-Ponts  and  Cromot  Dubour<r. 


98  The  French  in  America. 

storehouses  and  the  hospitals  of  Providence  while  the  troops 
were  going  by  land  to  Williarnsburg,  and  while  de  Choisy 
was  embarking  at  Newport  on  the  21st  of  August,  1781, 
with  the  siege  artillery  and  the  rest  of  his  troops.145 

Returning  to  Europe  after  having  been  appointed  adjutant- 
general  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  he  went  with  Count  de 
Maillebois  to  Holland,  where  he  stayed  until  the  19th  of 
July,  1788.  His  corps  having  been  broken  up,  he  was  ap 
pointed  marechal  de  camp  in  1791,  and  employed  in  the 
Army  of  the  North.  Lieutenant-general  the  5th  of  Septem 
ber,  1792,  he  passed  to  the  Army  of  the  Centre,  where  he 
commanded  the  vanguard  which  repulsed  the  Prussians  at  the 
camp  of  La  Lune  and  at  Fonton.  Suspended  as  a  noble  in 
April,  1793,  he  was  reinstated  the  6th  of  June  following, 
and  employed  in  the  Army  of  Italy,  and  later  in  that  of  the 
Western  Pyrenees.  He  retired  in  June,  1796,  and  withdrew 
to  his  chateau  of  Ornaix. 

DE  STAACK  or  DESTAACK  (Joseph),  born  at  Neukirch  the 
4th  of  March,  1737;  entered  as  ensign  the  regiment  of  Alsace 
in  1758,  and  was  appointed  captain-commandant  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  3d  of  June,  1779.  He  began 
by  making  three  campaigns  in  Germany,  and  received  two 
wounds  at  Clostercamp.  He  passed  to  America  with  his 
regiment,  and  distinguished  himself  at  the  capture  of  York- 
town.  He  received  the  cross  of  Military  Merit  and  the  order 
of  the  Cincinnati. 

DESTOUCHES  was  the  oldest  naval  captain  of  the  squadron 
under  command  of  de  Ternay,  which  left  Brest  with  the  ex 
peditionary  corps.  He  was  on  the  Duc-de-Bourgognc.  He 
took  command  of  the  squadron  before  Newport  at  the  death 
of  de  Ternay,  and  until  the  arrival  of  de  Barras,  and  in  that 

145  Deux-Ponts. 


Inst  of  Officers.  90 

short  interval  lie  made  an  expedition  to  Chesapeake  Bay, 
having  on  his  ships  twelve  hundred  men  under  command  of 
the  Baron  de  Viomenil  and  of  de  Laval.  He  could  not  force 
the  passage,  and  returned  to  Rhode  Island. 

DEUX-PONTS.  The  town  of  Deux-Ponts  is  situated  on  the 
Erbach,  near  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  Sarre,  five 
miles  to  the  west  of  Speyer.  It  was  first  the  capital  of  a 
duchy  which  afterwards  passed  under  the  domination  of  Swe 
den,  then  of  Bavaria.  The  ducal  family  of  Deux-Ponts  gave 
kings  to  both  of  these  countries. 

Later,  Christian,  Count  Palatine  and  reigning  duke  of  Doux- 
Ponts-Birkenfeld,  uncle  of  King  Maximilien  the  First  of  Ba 
varia,  had  married  morganatically  a  dancer,  famous  in  Paris 
under  the  name  of  Fontenay,  who  was  created  on  that  occur 
rence  Baroness  de  Forbach.  But  Christian  and  Guillaume, 
who  were  born  from  this  marriage,  were  not  admitted  as  heirs 
to  the  father,  so  that  it  was  Charles,  nephew  of  Duke  Chris 
tian,  and  elder  brother  of  King  Maximilien,  who  obtained  the 
government  of  the  Dukedom. 

The  two  sons  of  Christian,  Christian  and  Guillaume,  at 
first  took  the  name  of  their  mother,  then  thev  joined  thereto 
the  name  of  their  father  and  called  themselves  Barons  For 
bach  de  Deux-Ponts.  Later,  they  took  without  contest  the 
title  of  Counts,  which  is  given  them  by  all  Frenchmen,  and 
by  which  they  are  indiscriminately  mentioned.  Their  con 
temporaries,  among  whom  I  will  cite  Franklin  and  Colonel 
Trumbull,  often  made  mistakes  about  their  titles,  and  have 
sometimes  mistaken  the  two  either  for  one  another,  or  for  a 
member  of  their  family  who  was  made  King  of  Bavaria  by 
Napoleon. 

These  explanations  have  seemed  to  me  necessary  to  establish 
a  precise  distinction  between  the  two  members  of  the  family 
of  Deux-Ponts  who  made  the  campaign  of  America,  and  this 
distinction  is  all  the  more  necessary  as  the  two  brothers,  having 


100  The  French  in  America. 

both  served  in  the  regiment  of  their  name  and  having  been 
present  at  the  same  actions,  have  often  been  mistaken  for 
one  another. 

To  finish  the  general  history  of  this  family,  I  will  men 
tion  that  Gnillaume  married  a  Polignac  and  Christian  a  B6th- 
une ;  then,  after  the  French  Revolution,  the  two  brothers 
lived  in  Bavaria,  where  they  were  intrusted  with  important 
commands. 

DEUX-POXTS  (Christian,  Count  de  Forbach,  Marquis  de), 
born  the  20th  of  October,  1752,  at  Deux-Ponts;  received  on 
the  20th  of  April,  1768,  the  rank  of  second  lieutenant  with 
out  pay  in  a  French  regiment.  In  1772  he  was  appointed 
colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts,  but  on  account 
of  his  youth  he  did  not  take  command  until  the  20th  of 
September,  1775.  It  was  with  this  rank  that  he  was  in 
America,  under  the  orders  of  Rochambeau,  from  1780  to 
1783.  He  distinguished  himself  according  to  all  accounts 
during  this  expedition,  obtained  there  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis, 
and  the  assurance  that  he  would  be  appointed  brigadier  at 
the  first  vacancy.  The  French  Revolution  forced  him  to  take 
service  in  Bavaria,  where  he  commanded  an  auxiliary  Ba 
varian  corps  against  Moreau,  at  Hohenlinden,  in  1800.  He 
distinguished  himself  in  spite  of  the  defeat,  and  received  the 
grand  cross  of  the  order  of  Maximilien- Joseph  of  Bavaria, 
newly  created.  He  left  two  daughters.  One  of  his  sons-in- 
law,  Count  de  Wittgenstein,  was  killed  at  Borodino. 

DEUX-POXTS  (Guillaume,  Count  de  Forbach,  Count  de), 
born  at  Deux-Ponts  the  18th  of  June,  1754.  He  was  ap 
pointed  sub-lieutenant  in  his  brother's  regiment  the  12th  of 
November,  1770,  captain  the  25th  of  April,  1772,  then  lieu 
tenant-colonel  en  second  in  the  same  regiment  the  2d  of  Oc 
tober,  1777.  He  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Landerncau,  after 
the  useless  attempt  in  1779  at  landing  in  England.  He  made 


List  of  Officers.  101 

the  campaign  of  America  under  the  orders  of  de  Rochambeau, 
and  left  an  interesting  account  of  it.146  He  embarked  at 
Brest  on  the  4th  of  April,  1780,  on  the  fhettlt,  of  sixty-four 
guns;  disembarked  at  Newport  after  a  seventy-two  days'  trip, 
and  went  into  camp  on  the  llth  of  June,  at  Providence. 
During  the  march  of  the  troops  towards  Xew  York  he  was 
given  the  command  of  the  grenadiers  and  of  the  chasseurs  of 
Bourbonnais,  between  New  York  and  Annapolis,  and  he  em 
barked  on  the  21st  of  September,  1781,  on  the  DUiyente,  to 
return  to  Cape  Henry,  then  to  Williamsburg. 

He  played  a  more  brilliant  role  than  his  brother  during 
the  siege  of  Yorktown.  Although  only  lieutenant-colonel,  he 
was  intrusted  with  the  assault,  on  the  14th  of  October,  1781, 
of  the  principal  redoubt,  at  the  head  of  four  hundred  men  of 
his  regiment.  He  was  preceded  by  a  detachment  of  Gatinais 
under  command  of  de  1'Estrade,  and  followed  by  the  remain 
der  of  the  same  regiment  under  command  of  de  Rostaing. 
Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts  sprang  first  into  the  redoubt  and  gave 
his  hand  to  a  grenadier  to  help  him  to  follow.  This  gren 
adier  having  been  that  instant  mortally  wounded,  Guillaume 
withdrew  his  hand  and  gave  it  with  great  coolness  to  another. 
Guillaume  was  slightlv  wounded,  but  the  redoubt  was  cap 
tured  in  seven  minutes  with  such  brilliant  courage  that  Lieu 
tenant-colonel  Tarleton,  who  defended  it,  could  not  help 
mentioning  in  his  report  the  merits  of  his  adversary.  Kodi- 
ambeau  was  so  much  pleased  with  the  exploit  that  he  asked 
for  a  regiment  for  de  Deux-Ponts  in  preference  to  his  own 
son.  He  was  made  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis  and  returned  to 
France  on  the  2(>th  of  October  on  the  .ImfroiiuH/tic,  with 
Damas,  Charlus,  and  de  Laval,  to  carry  the  news  of  the 
capitulation. 

During  the  French  Revolution  he  was  captain  of  the  bodv 
guards  of  King  Maximilien  of  Bavaria,  who  was  particularly 

14<iSee  Vol.  I.,  page   17. 


102  The  French  in  America. 

fond  of  him.  He  died  sixteen  years  before  his  brother,  leav 
ing  two  sons,  Charles  and  Christian,  of  whom  the  first  per 
ished  at  Borodino.  The  Deux-Ponts  and,  I  think,  all  the 
superior  officers  were  members  of  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

DILLEMBOURG  (Chevalier  de  Hoehn,  Philippe-Frederic), 
born  the  16th  of  June,  1759;  sub-lieutenant  of  grenadiers  of 
Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  18th  of  October,  1777  ;  second  lieuten 
ant  the  22d  of  July,  1779;  was  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt 
of  Yorktown  the  14th  of  October,  1781,  and  received  a  re 
ward  for  the  courage  he  showed  there. 

DILLON.  This  family  belongs  to  a  very  noble  house  of 
Irish  origin,  whose  members  received  on  three  several  occa 
sions  the  titles  of  Viscounts  of  Dillon,  Counts  of  Roscommon, 
and  Lords  Clonbrock.  After  the  fall  of  James  the  Second, 
Arthur  de  Dillon,  the  best  known  (1670-1733),  entered  the 
service  in  France,  and  was  placed  by  Louis  the  Fifteenth  at 
the  head  of  his  Irish  guard,  which  took  the  name  of  regi 
ment  of  Dillon.147  He  married  Christiana  Sheldon,  by  whom 
he  had  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  who  all  reached  high 
positions. 

DILLON  (Arthur,  Count  de),  grandson  of  the  former,  born 
at  Bray  wick,  in  Ireland,  the  3d  of  September,  1750.  While 
still  a  child  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  his 
name  in  the  service  of  France,  passed  to  the  Antilles  with  a 
battalion  of  his  regiment,  under  command  of  de  Bouille,  in 
1777,  and  helped  in  the  capture  of  Grenada,  Saint  Eustatius, 
Tabago,  and  Saint  Christopher.  He  was  appointed  governor  of 
these  last  two  islands.  He  was  present  also  at  the  fruitless 
attack  on  Savannah,  went  to  Yorktown  with  the  troops  led 
by  the  Marquis  de  Saint-Simon,  was  wounded  before  Glou- 


147  See  the  historical  notice  of  this  regiment. 


List  of  Officers.  103 

cester,148  and  returned  to  the  Antilles  with  him.149  He  mar 
ried  Lucie,  daughter  of  the  Count  de  Roth,  who  died  in  1782. 
Afterwards  he  married  a  widow,  cousin  of  the  Empress  Jo 
sephine,  Countess  Delatouche,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters. 
One  of  them,  Fanny,  was  married  to  General  Count  Bert- 
rand,  so  famous  for  his  fidelity  to  Napoleon. 

Having  returned  to  France  at  the  peace,  Count  Arthur 
Dillon  favored  the  cause  of  the  Revolution  of  1789.  Still, 
appointed  deputy  from  Martinique  to  the  States  General,  he 
sometimes  voted  against  the  Revolutionists.  He  received,  in 
1792,  the  command  of  an  army  corps,  at  whose  head  he 
fought  against  the  Prussians  ;  but  he  protested  against  the 
insurrection  of  the  10th  of  August;  then,  the  12th  of  Octo 
ber,  1792,  he  retook  Verdun  from  the  Prussians,  yet  he  was 
wrongfully  accused  of  having  organized  a  conspiracy  to  save 
the  Dantonistes.  He  was  arrested  in  1793,  and  freed  by 
Garat ;  arrested  again  in  July,  he  was  defended  by  Desmou- 
lins,  who  compromised  him.  He  perished  on  the  scaffold 
the  13th  of  April,  1794. 

Many  members  of  his  family  were  in  the  service  of  France, 
so  that  contemporary  writers  often  mistake  them  for  one 
another.150  Thus  we  find  in  the  Archives  of  War  the  fol 
lowing  account : — 

DILLON  (Barthclemy),  born  the  17th  of  October,  1729,  in 
Ireland;  lieutenant-colonel  the  24th  of  June,  1780;  married 
Mademoiselle  de  La  Bourdonnaie,  widow  of  the  Marquis  de 
Montlerun,  and  no  mention  of  his  acts  in  the  service. 

From  the  memoirs  of  Lauzun  and  of  Mathieu  Dumas,  and 
from  the  Almanack  Royal  for  1781,  it  appears  also  that  : 

148  Mentioned  by  Rochambeau. 

149  "Do  Noailles  and  de  Dillon  fought  a  duel  on  the  evening  of  the 
Ctli  of  September,  1780,  for  a  matter  which  is  not  worth  mentioning," 
says  Blanchard. 

160 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Billy  Dillon. 


104  The  French  in  America. 

DILLON  (Count  £douard)  was  also  wounded  while  under 
the  command  of  d'Estaing  at  the  action  of  Grenada  the  5th 
of  July,  1779,  against  Admiral  Byron.  He  commanded  the 
column  of  the  centre,  and  Arthur  the  one  of  the  right.  Born 
in  1751,  died  in  1839.  Colonel,  the  2d  of  December,  1781, 
of  the  regiment  of  Provence,  he  followed  the  Bourbons  in 
their  emigration,  and  returned  with  them  in  1814.  He  was 
then  appointed  lieutenant-general. 

DILLON  (Robert),  embarked  on  the  23d  of  March,  1781, 
at  Brest,  on  the  Concorde,  with  the  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
three  remaining  men  of  the  regiment  of  his  name,  under  com 
mand  of  de  Lauzun.  He  distinguished  himself  before  Glou 
cester  in  a  charge  against  Tarleton,  and  commanded,  during 
the  return  to  Boston,  the  cavalry  of  Lauzun,  which  he  brought 
back  to  France.  He  reconnoitered  on  the  right  of  the  army 
between  Williamsburg  and  Boston. 

Robert  Dillon  had  made  the  campaign  of  1778  as  aid-de 
camp  of  de  Lauzun.  "  He  was  there  the  hero  of  an  adven 
ture  of  which  our  modern  dramatists  would  avail  themselves 
of  with  profit  if  it  came  to  their  knowledge."151 

DILLON  (Count  Theobald),  colonel  en  second  of  the  regi 
ment  of  Dillon  ;  marechal  de  camp  the  13th  of  June,  1783. 
Served  under  Rochambeau  in  1792.152  Assassinated  by  his 
soldiers  in  April,  1792. 

In  a  pamphlet  of  the  day  of  which  I  have  a  copy,  "Ac 
curate  account  of  the  capture  of  the  Islands  of  Saint  Eustatius, 
Saint  Martin,  and  Saba,  where  were  found  two  millions  belonging 
to  Admiral  Rodney"™  the  Marquis  de  Bouille  praises  warmly 
the  conduct  of  the  Dillons,  of  de  la  Fresne,  and  others. 


151  See  Memoires  of  the  Count  de  Pontgibaud,  page  187. 

152  In  the  Army  of  the  North.     Marginal  note. 

153  Detail  circonstantlc  de  la  prise  des  lies  Saint-Eustaclic,  Saint-Martin 
et  Saba,  do.ns   Icsquels  il  s'est   trouvc  deux  millions  appartenant  a  Vamiral 


Rodney. 


List  of  Officers.  105 

DOLOMIEU  DE  MARGUERITE  (Charles-Fran9ois-Sebastien, 
Chevalier),  born  at  Falaise  the  21st  of  March,  1746;  captain 
the  9th  of  December,  1780,  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  ; 
made  with  this  rank  the  campaign  of  America. 

DOMERGUE  DP:  SAINT-FLORENT  (Francois-Isaac),  born  in 
1742  at  Conse  in  Languedoc,  twenty-one  years  of  service,  three 
campaigns  in  Germany,  six  in  the  colonies  ;  captain-command 
ant  of  Gatinais  the  16th  of  June,  1775  ;  was  decorated  with 
the  order  of  Saint-Louis  for  his  good  conduct  before  York- 
town,  where  he  took  part  in  the  attack  of  the  redoubt. 

DORR  ft  (Fidele),  volunteer,  recommended  on  the  20th  of 
July,  1776,  by  Congress  to  Washington,  that  he  should  give 
him  employment  suited  to  his  ability. 

DORSET  (Chevalier),  admitted  as  lieutenant  in  the  volun 
teers  who  had  gone  to  America  with  Tronson-Ducoudray,  the 
17th  of  November,  1777.  Congress  gave  him  a  reward  to 
enable  him  to  return  to  France. 

DOUVILLE,  infantry  officer,  killed  at  the  naval  action  oft* 
Saint  Lucia  the  10th  of  May,  1780. 

DovRft  or  D'OvRft,  son  of  a  marecluil  dc  camp,  director  of 
the  fortifications  of  the  towns  of  the  Meuse.  He  was  captain 
in  the  royal  corps  of  engineers,  and  directed  in  this  position 
part  of  the  laying  down  of  parallels  before  Yorktown.  His 
merit  brought  him  a  pension. 

DROI'ILIIET  DE  FKJALAS  (Ignace),  born  the  26th  of  Sep 
tember,  17')'"),  at  Marmande  ;  entered  the  service  in  1776  as 
lieutenant  of  the  grenadiers  of  Agenois.  In  the  false  attack 
made  against  the  right  of  the  enemy  on  the  1st  of  Septem 
ber  before  Yorktown  he  received  a  severe  wound,  from  which 


106  The  French  in  America. 

it  was  feared  he  would  remain  crippled.     The  1st  of  Decem 
ber,   1781,  he  was  appointed  captain. 

DRUDE  DE  LA  CATERIE  (Julien),  born  at  Vire,  in  Nor 
mandy,  the  1st  of  August,  1742.  He  entered  the  service  in 
1761.  He  had  made  two  campaigns  in  Germany  and  two  in 
Corsica,  when  he  was  appointed  captain  in  the  regiment  of 
Soissonnais  the  19th  of  March,  1780.  He  went  with  the 
expeditionary  corps  to  America,  where  he  gave  proofs  of 
bravery.  He  was  decorated  for  his  good  conduct  before  York- 
town. 

DUBOIS  (Louis),  enlisted  as  volunteer  ;  received,  with  the 
title  of  colonel,  the  command  of  a  battalion  newly  raised  for 
the  army  of  Canada  on  the  26th  of  June,  1776.154'155 

Du  BUISSON.     See  BUISSON. 
DUCHESNE.     See  CHESNE. 

DUCOUDRAY  (Philippe  -  Charles  -  Jean  -  Baptiste  Tronson-),156 
born  at  Reims  the  8th  of  September,  1738,  the  third  of  ten 
children,  amongst  whom  we  must  mention  more  especially 
Guillaume-Alexandre  Tronson-Ducoudray,  defender  of  Queen 
Marie  Antoinette. 

Entering  the  service,  he  obtained  the  rank  of  lieutenant  of 
artillery  in  the  regiment  of  La  Fere,  and  deserved  the  con 
fidence  of  de  Gribeauval,  one  of  the  reformers  of  the  artillery 
in  France.  Amid  companions  in  arms  who  were  almost  all 
nobles,  the  rather  modest  position  of  his  family,  which  was 
in  trade,  kept  him  long  in  the  category  of  blue  officers,  name 
given  to  officers  from  the  lower  classes. 


164  Aubertcuil. 

166  Resigned  28th  October,  1776,  by  leave  of  Congress.     Marginal  note 
by  T.  B. 

166  Manuscript  communicated  by  M.  Michelin  Tronson-Ducoudray. 


List  of  Officers.  107 

Of  a  naturally  ambitious  and  rather  haughty  character,  he 
found  it  hard  to  bear  the  consequences  of  this  position,  which 
wounded  his  vanity,  and  fought  more  than  thirty  duels  after 
entering  the  regiment.  It  was  doubtless  to  these  social  dis 
tinctions  and  to  the  jars  that  resulted  therefrom  that  we  must 
attribute  the  unkindly  judgment  that  the  Marquis  de  La  Fay- 
ette  gave  of  Tronson-Ducoudray,  saying  that  he  did  not  look 
on  his  death  as  a  loss. 

In  1776  he  became  chief  of  brigade  of  artillery  and  pre 
ceptor  of  the  pages  of  the  Count  d'Artois,  afterwards  Charles 
the  Tenth,  and  formed  part  of  the  first  expedition  sent  by 
Beaumarchais  with  some  fifty  French  officers.  There  were 
three  vessels  laden  with  arms  and  ammunition,  of  which  the 
strongest  was  the  Amphitrite,  Captain  Fautrelle.  This  ship 
was  to  start  from  Havre  in  December,  1770;  but  the  la/i- 
ness  of  Ducoudray  resulted  in  its  still  being  at  Lorient  at  the 
end  of  January,  1777.  After  several  mishaps,  it  finally  ar 
rived  at  Portsmouth  in  March,  1777. 

The  17th  of  September,  1777,  he  was  on  the  march  with 
a  troop  of  French  officers  to  join  Washington,  when,  while 
crossing  the  Schuylkill,  the  young  and  skittish  horse  he  was 
riding  backed  oii'  the  fiat  boat  where  he  had  embarked. 
Horse  and  rider  fell  into  the  river  and  were  drowned.  His 
aid-de-camp  Roger  tried  in  vain  to  save  him.157  The  body  of 
Ducoudray  was  buried  a  lew  days  later  at  the  expense  of 
Congress. 

The  family  Tronson-Ducoudray  is  represented  to-day  by  a 
daughter  of  (itiillaume-Alexandre,  who  has  herself  two  chil 
dren  ;  a  son,  Michelin  Tronson-Ducoudray,  inspector-general 
of  finances,  and  a  daughter  married  to  Edouard  Labonlayc, 
member  of  the  Institute,  member  of  the  National  Assembly, 
and  a  distinguished  writer. 

The  writings  of  Tronson-Ducoudray  are  all  about  artillery. 


See  Vol.  I.,  page  80. 


108  The  French  in  America. 

DUDROT  (Marc-Antoine),  born  at  Charleville  the  16th  of 
January,  1743 ;  appointed  captain-commandant  of  grenadiers 
in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  the  23d  of  April,  1773,  and  made 
with  this  rank  the  campaign  of  America.  He  took  part  at 
the  head  of  his  company  in  the  attack  of  the  great  redoubt, 
and  was  decorated  with  the  order  of  Saint-Louis  after  the 
capture  of  Yorktown. 

DUGAN,  enlisted  as  volunteer,  and  received,  among  the  first, 
on  the  27th  of  April,  1776,  a  reward  from  the  American 
Government  for  his  services  in  the  campaign  of  Canada,  and 
was  recommended  to  the  generals  of  the  Continental  Army  to 
be  employed  according  to  his  merit.  He  served  afterwards 
under  the  orders  of  cle  Bouille.  I  find  his  name,  and,  I  think, 
his  portrait  also,  in  the  "Collection  of  engravings  representing 
the  different  events  of  the  war  which  brought  about  the  Independ 
ence  of  the  United  States  of  America."  Drawn  by  Godefroy, 
17  sheets.158 

DUMAS  (Count  Mathieu),  born  at  Montpellier  in  1753,  is 
silent  in  his  own  memoirs  about  his  origin  and  about  his  fam 
ily,  which,  it  seems,  was  numerous.  He  entered  as  sub-lieu 
tenant  the  regiment  of  Medoc  at  Montauban,  in  the  spring 
of  1773.  Appointed  captain  in  1780,  he  was  attached  as  aid- 
de-camp  to  General  Rochambeau,  and  embarked  at  Brest,  the 
12th  of  April,  1780,  on  the  Jason,  commanded  by  the  brave 
Captain  La  Clochetterie ;  but,  held  back  by  head  winds,  they 
only  sailed  on  the  2d  of  May.  During  the  whole  campaign 
he  served  as  officer  in  the  engineers,  and  was  intrusted,  with 
his  friend  Charles  de  Lameth,  with  leading  the  grenadiers  and 
the  chasseurs  who  were  to  occupy,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
siege  of  Yorktown,  the  strong  redoubt  of  Pigeon  Hill.  This 


158  Rccucil  d'estampcs  reprt'sentant  les  dijferents  evenements  de  la  guerre  qid 
procured  Vindi'pendunce  des  Etuts-Unis  d'Aincrique. 


List  of  Officers.  109 

redoubt  was  already  abandoned  by  the  English  and  not  a 
single  shot  was  fired  there.  A  few  days  later  his  friend  de 
Lamcth,  who  had  just  replaced  him  in  the  trenches,  was 
severely  wounded.  When  Count  de  Rochambeau  had  left 
America,  Dumas  stayed  as  chief  of  staff  under  the  orders  of 
the  Baron  de  Viomenil,  then  he  embarked  with  this  general 
officer  the  '24th  of  December,  1782,  on  the  Triomphant,  Com 
mander  de  Vaudreuil,  to  go  to  Porto  Cabello  in  Venezuela. 
There  he  explored  the  country  in  company  with  de  Segur,  de 
Broglie,  the  Marquis  de  Campcenetz,  Berthier  the  future  mar 
shal,  Count  Bozon  de  Perigord,  Desoteux,  and  others,  and 
found  at  Caracas  the  Marquis  de  Fleury,  the  Duke  de  Laval, 
and  Alexandre  de  Lameth.  He  then  went  to  Cape  Fran- 
eais,  Saint  Domingo,  and  afterwards  returned  to  Paris.  In 
1784  he  was  ordered  to  explore  the  coasts  of  the  east  of  the 
Mediterranean  and  the  islands  in  the  Archipelago. 

On  his  return  from  this  mission  he  organized  with  La 
Fayette  the  National  Guard,  escorted  the  king  and  protected 
him  while  returning  from  Varennes,  and  fought  then  witli 
might  and  main  against  the  anarchists.  Obliged  to  exile  him 
self  during  the  Terror,  he  reappears  after  the  18th  Brumaire 
and  served  in  the  administration  of  the  Empire.  He  helped 
the  Revolution  in  1830,  was  made  peer  of  France  in  1831 
and  died  in  18o7.15<J 

DUPETIT - THOUARS  (Georges -Aristide-Aubert),  born  near 
Saumur  in  17<>0.  He  studied  at  the  College  of  la  Fleche ; 
entered  at  the  age  of  fourteen  the  Military  School  of  Paris. 
Cadet  genlUhomme  in  the  regiment  of  Poitou  in  177(>;  sub 
lieutenant  in  1778.  Midshipman  in  the  navy  the  1st  of 
March,  1778,  he  embarked  on  the  Pendant  and  took  part  in 
the  battle  of  Ouessant.  In  the  same  ship  he  was  present,  in 

169 1  have  cited  his  Souvenirs  in  several  places  in  the  first  volume. 
They  were  published  by  his  son  in  1839. 


1.10  The  French  in  America. 

1779,  at  the  capture  of  Saint  Louis  in  Senegal  and  at  the 
three  actions  which  de  Guichen  fought  in  the  Antilles  in  1780. 
In  1781  he  changed  to  the  Couronne,  and  returned  to  the 
Antilles  soon  enough  to  be  present  at  the  unfortunate  action 
of  the  12th  of  April,  1782.  He  visited  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  the  Antilles,  and  Porto  Cabello.  Ensign  in 
1784.  I  have  often  used  the  manuscript160  mentioned  as  by 
Dupetit-Thouars,  especially  in  the  account  of  the  operations 
of  the  siege  of  Savannah. 

Naval  lieutenant  in  1792,  he  left  with  his  brother  to  search 
for  La  Perouse,  but  was  arrested  in  Brazil,  where  his  vessel 
went  ashore  and  was  confiscated.  He  went  to  the  United 
States  and  spent  there  the  years  1795  and  1796.  He  then 
wished  to  return  to  France.  But  his  rank  had  been  taken 
away  from  him.  He  received  an  offer  of  reinstatement.  He 
left  Toulon  the  19th  of  May,  1798,  on  the  Franklin,  which 
formed  part  of  the  fleet  under  command  of  Brueys.  The  1st 
of  August,  1798,  he  perished  at  the  battle  of  Aboukir.161 

DUPLECIX  (Colonel).162 

DUPLEIX  (Girard-Jean-Baptiste,  Chevalier  de  Cadignan  or 
de  Badiguay),  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Agenois 
the  19th  of  August,  1777;  distinguished  himself  especially 
at  the  capture  of  Saint  Christopher. 

Du  PONCEAU  (Pierre-fCtienne),  born  at  the  Island  of  R6  the 
3d  of  June,  1760,  where  his  father  held  a  military  command. 
He  showed  as  a  boy  much  ability  in  the  study  of  languages. 
Before  he  was  thirteen  years  old  he  knew  English  and  Italian 
thoroughly.  His  father  intended  him  for  an  engineer  in  the 


160See  Vol.  I.,  page  10. 

101  At  Paris  and  at  Calais  there  were  streets  named  after  Dupetit- 
Thouars.    There  is  also  a  Cape  Dupetit-Thouars  in  Korea.    E.  S.  B. 
162  See  Landais  Memoirs,  9.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  Ill 

army,  but  he  was  obliged  to  abandon  this  career  because  he 
was  shortsighted ;  he  was  then  sent  to  a  college  of  Benedictine 
monks  at  Saint- Jean-d'Angely.  Having  stayed  there  eighteen 
months  he  returned  to  the  Island  of  Re,  where  his  father  had 
just  died.  His  mother  wished  him  to  become  a  priest.  He 
long  resisted  her  desires,  because  he  had  embraced  the  prin 
ciples  of  Protestantism  ;  but  his  friends  pushed  him  on,  and 
he  received  the  tonsure.  He  was  then  about  fifteen  years  of 
age.  The  Bishop  of  La  Rochelle,  who  was  a  friend  of  his 
family,  sent  him  as  regent  to  the  College  of  Bressuire,  where 
he  taught  Latin.  The  persecutions  he  had  to  endure  from 
the  other  professors,  older  than  himself  by  nine  or  ten  years, 
caused  him  to  escape  from  the  college,  which  he  did  on 
Christmas  Day,  1775,  with  a  shirt  in  one  pocket  and  "  Para 
dise  Lost"  in  the  other. 

Pie  went  to  Versailles,  where  there  were  old  friends  of  his 
father,  who  received  him  with  kindness.  Going  thence  to 
Paris,  he  made  his  living  by  translating  English  books.  At 
de  Beaumarchais'  he  was  presented  to  the  Baron  von  Steuben, 
at  the  time  when  Steuben  was  about  to  start  for  America. 
The  Baron  needed  a  secretary  who  could  speak  and  write 
English.  Du  Ponceau  suited  him. 

They  embarked  at  Marseilles,  and  arrived  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire,  the  1st  of  December,  1777.  As  the  Baron 
could  not  speak  a  word  of  English  his  secretary  accompanied 
him  everywhere.  At  a  dinner  at  George  Langdon's  they 
learned  the  defeat  of  General  Burgoync. 

In  Boston  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  many  eminent  men, 
among  whom  were  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams.  The 
latter,  hearing  Du  Ponceau  upholding  Republican  principles, 
asked  him  where  he  had  found  them.  He  answered,  "  In 
France."  Adams  said  that  was  impossible,  but  Du  Ponceau 
answered  immediately,  "  Because  a  man  is  born  in  a  stable  it 
is  not  necessary  that  he  should  be  a  horse."  This  proverb  was 
borrowed  by  Du  Ponceau  from  his  mother  tongue. 


112  The  French  in  America. 

They  were  three  weeks  going  from  Boston  to  York,  in 
Pennsylvania,  where  Congress  was  sitting.  At  the  request  of 
the  Baron,  Du  Ponceau  was  appointed  captain  in  the  army. 

At  Valley  Forge  Du  Ponceau  was  presented  to  General 
Washington,  and  endured  with  him  and  his  army  of  recruits 
the  sufferings  of  a  severe  winter. 

Baron  von  Steuben  having  been  appointed  major-general, 
du  Ponceau  became  his  aid-de-camp,  with  the  rank  of  major. 
At  the  end  of  the  campaign  of  1779  the  Baron  and  his  sec 
retary  came  to  Philadelphia,  where  Du  Ponceau  was  attacked 
with  trouble  in  his  lungs,  and  his  case  seemed  desperate  to  his 
physician.  To  cure  himself  he  lived  on  nothing  but  milk. 
At  the  same  time  he  wrote  satires  on  consumption. 

Baron  von  Steuben  received  orders  to  join  General  Greene, 
who  had  been  put  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  South. 
Du  Ponceau,  thinking  that  riding  on  horseback  would  do  him 
good,  obtained  from  the  Baron  permission  to  go  with  him. 
His  health  grew  worse  in  Virginia,  and  at  the  express  wish 
of  the  Baron  he  returned  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  soon 
appointed  secretary  of  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Secretary  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  who  was  living  in  a  house  at  the  corner  of 
Chestnut  and  Ninth  Streets,  where  Du  Ponceau  remained  until 
his  death.163  He  occupied  the  office  which  was  formerly  Mr. 
Livingston's. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  Du  Ponceau  decided  to  become  a 
lawyer.  He  studied  with  William  Lewis,  an  eminent  lawyer 
of  Philadelphia,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  June,  1785, 
and  soon  obtained  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.  He  married 
in  1786. 

President  Jefferson  offered  him  the  position  of  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Territory  of  Louisiana,  which  he  declined. 


163  Between  Walnut  and  Spruce  Streets,  Philadelphia,  opposite  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  is  a  small  street  called  Duponceau  Street. 
E.  S.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  113 

He  was  an  active  member  of  several  societies  in  Philadel 
phia.  Among  the  offices  which  he  filled  were  that  of  Chief 
Provost  of  the  Academy  of  Law,  of  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  and  President  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsyl 
vania.  Thanks  to  several  learned  writings,  he  was  elected  in 
1827  corresponding  member  of  the  Institute  of  France, 
Academy  of  Inscriptions,  and  in  1835  he  received  from  this 
celebrated  body  the  prize  of  linguistique  founded  by  Volney. 

In  1829  he  took  a  large  part  in  the  attempt  to  introduce 
bilk  worms  into  the  United  States. 

Besides  being  nearsighted  he  was  very  absent  minded,  and 
some  amusing  anecdotes  are  told  of  him.  He  died  in  Phila 
delphia  the  1st  of  April,  1844.  Among  the  papers  of  Du 
Ponceau  was  found  an  interesting  biography. 

DITPONT  J/AUHKVOYK  DE  LiAUBARDiEUKS  (Louis-Fraucois- 
Bcrtrand),  born  the  27th  of  October,  1759  ;  student  of  the 
Military  School  of  Cadets  in  177(>  ;  entered  as  sub-lieutenant 
the  regiment  of  Saintonge  the  30th  of  January,  1778;  made 
the  campaign  of  America  with  the  rank  of  captain,  in  the 
position  of  aid-de-camp  to  Count  Rochambeau,  whose  nephew 
h<;  was.  After  the  capture  of  Yorktown  he  obtained,  with 
out  paying  anything,  the  position  of  captain  in  waiting  of 
cavalry,  as  a  reward  for  his  distinguished  conduct. 

DUPORTAIL  (Louis  Le  Begue),  student  at  the  Military 
School  of  Mezieres;  entered  the  engineers  as  ollicer  in  17<>1  ; 
captain  in  1773.  The  28th  of  July,  1777,  he  was  sent  to 
America  by  Franklin  with  Gouvion,  Radiere,  and  Laumoy. 
He  obtained  from  Congress  the  title  of  chief  engineer  with 
the  rank  of  colonel;  brigadier-general  the  17th  of  Novem 
ber,  1777.  The  25th  of  April,  1780,  he  was  attached  as 
lieutenant-colonel  to  the  corps  of  French  infantry,  and  dur 
ing  the  siege  of  Yorktown  he  directed,  under  the  orders  of 
Dcsandroins,  the  work  on  the  trenches.  He  is  one  of  the 


114  The  French  in  America. 

higher  officers  whom  Washington  mentions  particularly  as 
having  most  helped  in  the  capture.  He  obtained  afterwards 
the  cross  of  Saint-Louis,  with  a  pension  of  twenty-four  hun 
dred  livres  and  the  promise  of  the  rank  of  brigadier-general 
after  the  peace.  Congress,  on  its  side,  raised  him  to  the 
rank  of  major-general.  He  returned  to  France,  where  he  was 
marcchal  de  camp  in  1788.  Through  the  influence  of  La 
Fayette  he  obtained,  the  16th  of  November,  1790,  the  port 
folio  of  minister  of  war.  He  resigned  after  the  disgrace  of 
La  Fayette;  was  condemned  by  accusation  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1792,  and  hid  in  Paris  for  twenty-two  months.  In 
1794  he  fled  to  America,  and  on  the  28th  of  June,  1797, 
Mathieu  Dumas  succeeded  in  having  his  name  struck  off  the 
list  of  emigrants.  He  died  at  sea  while  returning  to  France 
in  1804.164 

DURAND,  agent  of  de  Choiseul  at  London  from  1766  to 
1770. 

Beaumarchais  also  took  this  name  in  December,  1776, 
when  he  went  to  Havre  to  send  ammunition  and  guns  to 
America  with  Tronson-Ducoudray  and  some  fifty  officers. 

It  was  also  the  name  of  a  friend  of  Beaumarchais  who 
accompanied  him  to  London  about  the  sale  of  guns  to  the 
French  Government  in  1793. 

DUE  AT  (Count  de),  colonel  en  second  of  the  regiment  of 
Cambresis,  commanding  the  fifty  volunteers  and  the  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  grenadiers  who  composed  the  vanguard  of 
the  column  of  attack  against  Grenada,  under  d'Estaing,  in 
July,  1779.  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  present  at  the  attack 
of  Savannah. 

164  Among  the  numerous  literary  curiosities  which  I  have  examined 
is  "  Love  and  Patriotism,  or  the  extraordinary  adventures  of  Mr.  Du- 
portail,  late  major-general  in  the  armies  of  the  United  States.  1797. 
12mo.,  pp.  120." 


List  of  Officers.  115 

DURSUS  or  DURSIE  (Jacques-Philippe-Auguste),  born  the 
26th  of  April,  1758,  at  Mondeville,  in  the  generalite  of  Caen; 
lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais  in  1774;  was  se 
verely  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  during  the  night 
of  the  12th  to  the  13th  of  October  while  laying  out  the  sec 
ond  parallel.185 

DUTERTRE,  officer  of  the  hussars  of  Laii/un  ;  slightly 
wounded  the  4th  of  October  before  Gloucester.166 

E. 

Ecoussix  (Jean-Gregoire  Duvalcs  d'),  born  the  27th  of 
January,  1740,  at  Montmorin  in  Languedoc  ;  served  since 
1703;  was  wounded  at  Horgo,  in  Corsica,  the  Sth  of  Octo 
ber,  1708,  by  a  shot  in  the  left  thigh;  captain  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Soissonnais  the  15th  of  April,  1780;  made  the  cam 
paign  of  America,  and  received  a  reward  for  his  good  conduct 
before  Yorktown. 

KGLISE  (Do  L'),  volunteer  in  the  Army  of  the  North  ; 
commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  the  23d  of  October,  1778. 

EMERIAU  (Maurice-Julien,  Count),  vice-admiral,  peer  of 
France;  born  at  Carhaix,  Finistere,  the  '20th  of  October,  1702; 
a  descendant  of  an  old  familv  of  Scotch  descent  ;  embarked  at 
the  age  of  fourteen  on  the  tfi/ljjhc.  Volunteer  on  the  Intrt'- 
pldc  and  the  J)ia<]hne,  he  was  present  at  the  action  of  Oues- 
sant,  at  the  attack  and  capture  of  Grenada,  where  he  was 
one  of  the  foremost  in  the  storming ;  at  the  action  of  the  4th 
of  July,  177D,  in  front  of  that  island,  as  well  as  in  those 
of  the  20th,  21st,  and  22d  of  March,  1780,  in  one  of  which 


l"  Archives  of  War  and  Croinot  Dtibourg. 
66  Mentioned  in  the  Mi-moires  of  Rochambeuu. 


116  The  French  in  America. 

he  was  wounded  in  the  right  foot.  At  the  siege  of  Savan 
nah,  in  September,  1780,  young  Emeriau  was  employed  in 
erecting  batteries,  and  at  the  time  of  the  general  attack  he 
was  one  of  the  first  to  jump  into  the  trenches  and  was  se 
verely  wounded  in  the  right  eye.  His  good  conduct  in  this 
combat  made  d'Estaing  appoint  him  lieutenant  of  frigate.  He 
was  only  seventeen  years  of  age.  At  the  end  of  the  war  he 
received  the  decoration  of  the  Cincinnati.  In  November,  1781, 
he  embarked  at  Brest  on  the  Trwmphant,  Captain  de  Vau- 
dreuil,  of  the  squadron  of  the  Count  de  Grasse,  and  was  pres 
ent  at  the  actions  of  the  9th  and  12th  of  April,  fought  with 
Admiral  Rodney.  In  the  last  of  these  combats  a  splinter  from 
a  cannon  ball  wounded  Emeriau  in  the  small  of  the  back, 
another  wounded  him  in  the  groin.  The  captain  of  the  Tri- 
omphant  was  killed  and  the  ship  lost  three  hundred  men. 

Emeriau  was  appointed  naval  lieutenant  in  1786,  captain  in 
1794,  chief  of  squadron  in  1797.  He  had  his  arm  shattered 
at  Aboukir  in  1798  on  the  Spartiate  while  resisting  five  Eng 
lish  ships,  and  was  obliged  to  surrender.  In  1800  he  was 
made  military  commander  of  the  port  of  Toulon;  in  1802 
rear-admiral.  Every  advance  in  rank  or  distinction  he  won, 
wras  the  reward  of  some  service.  Count  of  the  Empire  in 
1810,  vice-admiral  in  1811,  peer  of  France  in  1815,  he 
kept  aloof  during  the  "Hundred  Days,"  and  was  called  back 
to  high  office  in  1831  by  Louis  Philippe. 

EPINIERES  (Des),  nephew  of  Caron  de  Beauniarchais,  en 
listed  as  volunteer ;  appointed  brevet-captain  by  Congress  the 
llth  of  August,  1777;  afterwards  appointed  major;  obtained 
permission  to  return  to  Erance  the  4th  of  December,  1778, 
and  died  at  Paris  in  1782.  He  was  the  son  of  a  watch 
maker,  de  Lepine,  and  had  transformed  his  name.  He  started 
in  the  position  of  artillery  officer  on  the  Amphitrite,  the  first 
vessel  armed  by  his  uncle  for  the  service  of  the  Americans. 
He  was  with  Conway,  de  la  Kouerie,  and  Ducoudray,  who 


List  of  Officers.  117 

all  arrived  in  America  in  March,  1777,  before  La  Fayette.167 
Longchamps  calls  him  Despini&res. 

ESCURY  (fclouard  des),  born  the  3d  of  June,  1760;  sub 
lieutenant  of  the  company  of  chasseurs  in  the  regiment  of  Ar- 
magnac ;  went  to  the  colonies  with  that  regiment,  and  was 
present  at  the  siege  of  Savannah  in  1780.  Although  he  was 
shot  in  the  hand  during  the  sortie  of  the  4th  of  September, 
he  took  part  in  the  bloody  and  useless  attack  on  the  intrench- 
ments  of  the  town. 

KSTAING  (Charles-Hector,  Count  d'),  born  in  1729  at  the 
Chateau  de  Ruvel  in  Rouergue,  of  an  illustrious  family.  His 
first  rank  was  that  of  colonel  of  infantry.  He  embarked  as 
brigadier  the  2d  of  May,  1757,  with  Lally-Tollendal  for  the 
Fast  Indies,  and  learned  there  something  about  naval  matters  ; 
taken  prisoner  in  17-~>9,  at  Madras,  after  having  been  wounded, 
he  was  put  in  liberty  on  parole.  In  October,  without  waiting 
for  his  exchange,  he  went  into  the  Persian  Gulf  to  take  the 
fort  of  Bender-Abasse,  with  three  Fnglish  vessels  captured  at 
Sumatra,  manned  by  two  hundred  men.  He  was  anew  taken 
prisoner  while  returning  to  Franco  in  17(>0.  Appointed  lieu 
tenant-general  in  170)],  his  good  luck  raised  much  jealousy. 
He  showed  for  blue  officer*16*  a  partialitv  which  otVendcd 
many  navy  officers.  All  say  of  him  that  he  was  a  brave 
soldier,  but  a  poor  general  or  naval  oilicer. 

Vice-admiral  in  1777,  he  raised  his  pennant  on  the  Laiif/- 
ucdoe  of  ninety  guns;  left  Toulon  on  the  loth  of  April,  177S; 
reached  Rhode  Island  on  the  2(Jth  of  July.  On  the  Sth  of 
August  lie  forced  the  passage  into  Newport,  and  entered  (\m- 
necticut  Bav.  The  next  day  he  sailed  against  the  forces  of 
Howe,  who  had  joined  Byron.  A  tempest  which  raged  from 


167 de  Lomonie,  Life  of  fieaumnrchai*. 

W0flicicrn  bleus,  name  in  the  old  navy,  applied  to  un  officer  a  captain 
appointed  on  his  own  ship.     (Littre.) 


118  The  French  in  America. 

the  llth  to  the  12th  of  August,  1778,  divided  d'Estaing's 
fleet.  The  Languedoc  only  escaped  by  the  unexpected  assist 
ance  of  two  French  ships.  From  Newport,  where  he  was 
kept  by  Sullivan  and  La  Fayette,  d'Estaing  withdrew  to 
Boston,  and  aroused  thus  the  anger  of  the  Americans,  who 
accused  him  of  treason.  La  Fayette  defended  him.  He  went 
to  the  Windward  Islands,  and  his  title  of  Commander-general 
of  the  Windward  Islands  aroused  the  antagonism  of  de 
Bouille.  He  tried  in  vain  to  take  Saint  Lucia,  but  captured 
Saint  Vincent  and  Grenada  on  the  4th  of  July,  1779,  by  a 
sudden  attack,  at  the  head  of  thirteen  hundred  men.  The 
next  day  he  gave  battle  to  the  English  squadron  of  Byron, 
who  took  refuge  at  Saint  Christopher.  He  then  tried  vainly 
to  take  Savannah.169  Wounded  and  repulsed,  he  was  dis 
graced  in  1780  on  his  return  to  France,  and  remained  with 
out  employment  until  1783. 

In  1787,  member  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Notables,  com 
mander  of  the  National  Guard  of  Versailles,  he  was  a  be 
liever  in  the  Constitution  by  principle,  but  wished  to  save 
the  king.  His  role  was  difficult.  His  deposition  about  the 
queen  before  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  was  variously  criti 
cised.  He  soon  followed  her  to  the  scaffold,  on  the  28th  of 
August,  1794. 

"  D'Estaing  found  himself,  alone,  charged  with  a  very  im 
portant  mission  in  America.  Only  twelve  vessels  had  been 
intrusted  to  him,  and  no  hope  had  been  left  him  of  any  suc 
cor  or  any  increase  of  strength.  He  might  meet,  not  only 
during  his  passage,  but  especially  in  the  Antilles,  forces  much 
superior  to  those  he  commanded,  and,  despite  this  incontest 
able  inferiority,  he  was  able  to  raise  the  honor  of  the  new 
French  navy,  to  obtain  genuine  successes,  and  dispel  the  very 
unfavorable  opinion  then  general  in  Europe  on  the  possibility 
of  France  ever  placing  seriously  a  few  vessels  on  the  ocean, 


'See  Vol.  I.,  page  88. 


List  of  Officers.  119 

and  especially  of  being  able  for  one  instant  to  sustain  a 
struggle  with  England.  This  is  a  glory  which  the  contem 
porary  writers  accord  without  contest  to  the  French  admiral, 
a  glory  which  the  misfortunes  he  endured  and  the  actual  sit 
uation  of  the  navy  of  France  has  too  much  effaced."  17° 

I  find  in  the  Journal  (Tun  officier  dc  marine111  a  most  in 
teresting  account  of  the  manoeuvres  of  the  fleet  of  d'Estaing 
from  the  9th  to  the  12th  of  August,  1778.  The  author 
blames  d'Estaing  for  "  the  worst  conceived  plan  of  battle 
possible."  Me  praises  the  ability  of  de  Barras,  who  com 
manded  the  vanguard,  but  as  soon  as  "  we  have  perceived 
the  English  squadron  to  windward  "  the  author  changes  Ins 
criticism.  It  is  no  longer  d'Estaing,  but  the  officers  under 
his  command.  lie  reproaches  them  for  their  egotism  and 
their  insubordination.  "The  general  gave  the  signal  all  day 
with  cannon  shots  to  put  on  all  sail.  I  cannot  hide  that 
some  captains  were  neglectful  and  others  in  the  rear  took  in 
sail."  lie  says  also  that  on  the  morrow  "d'Estaing,  in  the 
same  position  as  the  day  before,  gave  the  same  signal  to  form 
in  line  of  battle." 

"  The  intention  of  the  general,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
line,  was  doubtless  that  the  line  of  battle  should  be  formed 
as  soon  as  possible,  without  regard  to  rank  or  seniority,  and 
for  each  one  to  take  his  position  wherever  he  was,  which  was 
all  the  same  for  success,  as  the  strongest  of  the  enemy's  ships 
was  not  stronger  than  the  weakest  of  ours.  I  do  not  know 
by  what  fatality,  nor  why,  each  captain  understanding  the 
signal,  they  all  tried  to  take  the4  position  given  to  the  rank 
of  their  ships  in  the  line  of  battle,  which  lost  much  time,  and 
once  more  the  best  opportunity  which  was  ever  seen  to  light 
and  conquer  the  English.  \Ve  shall  see  the  same  thing  arrive 
at  the  action  of  Grenada." 

l™}[istoire  raisonnee  dc  la  dernttre  guerre,  by  J.  de  Saint- Vallier,  Liege, 
1783. 

171  Vol.  II.,  page  4. 


120  The  French  in  America. 

I  quote  these  remarks  as  another  example  of  the  disasters 
brought  about  by  the  spirit  of  indifference  and  insubordi 
nation  of  the  officers  of  the  French  navy.  De  Grasse  in 
his  Memoire  already  mentioned172  attributes  to  the  same  causes 
the  fatal  consequences  of  the  action  of  the  12th  of  April.173 

ESTRADE  (Claude,  Baron  de  1'),  born  at  Puy-en-Velay 
the  5th  of  April,  1730,  entered  the  service  in  1746,  was  ap 
pointed  captain  in  1757,  and  lieutenant-colonel  of  Gatinais 
the  17th  of  August,  1777.  It  was  with  this  rank  that  he 
made  the  campaign  of  America.  The  14th  of  October,  1781, 
before  Yorktown,  he  served  as  second  for  Guillaume  de  Deux- 
Ponts  in  reconnoitering  the  great  redoubt.  The  same  even 
ing  the  attack  was  made  by  the  regiment  of  Deux-Ponts,  under 
the  lead  of  Guillaume,  its  colonel,  as  commander-in-chief,  aided 
by  the  regiment  of  Gatinais.  A  detachment  of  this  formed 
the  vanguard  under  the  command  of  de  FEstrade,  the  remain 
der  of  Gatinais  was  in  the  rearguard  under  the  command  of 
de  Rostaing.  The  redoubt  was  taken  in  a  few  minutes,  and 
the  regiment  of  Gatinais  regained  there  its  old  name  of  Royal- 
Auvergne. 

"He  was  as  much  respected  for  his  merit  as  for  his  age/' 
says  Cromot  Dubourg  in  his  narrative.  "  He  was  present  at 
fourteen  sieges  or  battles.  He  marched  at  the  head  of  his 
grenadiers,  amidst  the  abatis  and  the  palissades,  as  if  he  had 
been  only  twenty  years  of  age,  and  was  one  of  the  first  in 
the  assault  of  the  redoubt.  A  soldier,  not  recognizing  him, 
seized  him  by  his  coat  to  help  himself  up,  and  caused  him 
to  fall  into  the  ditch,  where  nearly  two  hundred  men  walked 
over  him.  Pie  rose  nevertheless,  entered  the  redoubt,  and  the 
next  day,  although  bruised  all  over,  he  did  his  turn  of  duty 
in  the  trenches." 


172  See  Vol.  I.,  page  9  and  page  109. 

173  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  de  Grasse 


List  of  Officers.  121 

EYROUX  (Marie-Jean-Balthasar  Pontives  d'),  second  lieuten 
ant  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais  ;  obtained  a  reward  for 
his  services  before  Yorktown.  Entered  the  service  in  1777. 


F. 

FABRKGUES  (Jean-Barthelemy  Montalegre,  Chevalier  de), 
born  the  7th  of  January,  1755,  at  Vigan  in  Languedoc;  lieu 
tenant  of  chawurx  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  in  1775; 
made  captain  in  the  same  regiment  the  1st  of  July,  1782,  for 
the  courage  he  showed  before  Yorktown. 

FAIT.LY  (Chevalier  du),  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the  "War 
of  Independence  the  1st  of  December,  1770;  brevet  lieuten 
ant-colonel  with  salary  from  Congress  the  llth  of  August, 
1777. 

FALUER  (Le  Fevre  de  la),  captain-commandant  in  the  reg 
iment  of  Saintonge,  entered  the  service  in  1700;  made  the 
campaigns  of  Cayenne  and  of  the  United  States  with  his  reg 
iment. 

FALQUEREITTE  (Louis-fitienne-Arondc  dc  Saint  Felix, 
Chevalier  de  Rebourquil),  born  the  10 th  of  February,  171'), 
at  Milhau  ;  entered  the  service  in  17W>,  \va<  appointed  captain 
in  the  regiment  of  Touraine  in  December,  177-).  He  was 
employed  as  aid-major  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  ob 
tained,  the  5th  of  December,  17S1,  the  promise  of  the  rank 
of  major  in  recognition  of  the  zeal  and  talent  he  showed. 

FAXKUIL,  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the  War  of  Independ 
ence  the  24th  of  March,  1777,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  with 
neither  pay  nor  rations.174 


174  Auberteuil. 


122  The  French  in  America. 

FAUSTE  DE  MAYENCE  (Charles-Gaspard),  bom  the  23d  of 
February,  1735,  at  Blangy  in  Normandy  •  sub-lieutenant  the 
12th  of  March,  1780  ;  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge 
the  8th  of  April,  1784.  Made  with  his  regiment  the  cam 
paign  of  America. 

FAUTRELLE,  captain  of  the  merchantman  the  Amphitrite, 
a  ship  equipped  and  loaded  with  stores  of  war  by  Beaumar- 
chais. 

FERNEAU,  officer  of  the  Vengeance. 

FERRETTE  (Jean-Baptiste),  born  the  13th  of  January,  1736, 
at  Cernay  in  Alsace;  entered  the  service  in  1753,  appointed 
captain  in  1758  ;  received  the  rank  of  major  in  the  regiment 
of  Saintonge  the  3d  of  March,  1774.  It  is  not  sure  that  he 
went  to  America  with  his  regiment,  on  account  of  his  age, 
although  his  name  is  mentioned  in  the  regimental  books  in 
the  Archives. 

FERSEN  (Axel,  Count  de),  born  at  Stockholm  the  4th  of 
September,  1754.  Son  of  a  minister  of  state  in  Sweden,  he 
came  in  his  youth  to  France,  and  entered  the  army  in  1769,175 
where  he  commanded  as  colonel  the  regiment  Royal-Suedois. 
Appointed  first-aid-de-camp  of  de  Rochambeau  for  the  expe 
dition  of  America,  he  embarked  on  the  Jason  with  Damas 
and  Mathieu  Dumas,  at  Brest,  in  April,  1780. 

He  played  a  rather  important  part  in  the  campaign,  and 
became  colonel  en  second  of  the  regiment  Royal-Deux-Ponts 
in  1782.  The  15th  of  August,  1781,  de  Rochambeau  an 
swered  the  letters  that  de  Barras,  who  had  just  arrived,  had 
written  him,  and  de  Fersen  was  intrusted  with  taking  them 
to  Newport.  This  circumstance  was  commented  on,  because 
up  to  that  time  an  American  dragoon  had  been  chosen  for 

175 1779.    Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  123 

this  duty.  The  other  officers  drew  from  this  fact  more  or 
less  exact  inferences  about  the  projects  of  the  generals-in-chief. 
De  Fersen  was  also  sent  from  Cape  Henry  to  Annapolis  with 
ten  transports  of  the  squadron  of  de  Barras,  by  Washington, 
to  hasten  the  arrival  of  the  troops.  He  acquitted  himself  of 
this  mission  with  diligence,  and  the  troops  were  able  to  em 
bark  at  Head  of  Elk  and  at  Annapolis  to  reach  by  water  the 
James  River.  He  himself  took  the  land  route,  and  with  his 
friend  de  Dumas  he  accompanied  de  Rochambeau,  while  Van- 
ban  and  Laubardiere  embarked  at  Elk  with  the  troops  under 
command  of  de  Custine,  and  while  Closen  and  Cromot  Du- 
bourg  followed  the  same  route  as  the  cavalry  of  Lauzun  across 

AT"*          *       •        1"fl 
irgmia.  ' 

On  his  return  to  France  he  showed  himself  entirely  devoted 
to  the  Court,  and  tried  to  protect  it  against  the  Republican-. 
For  instance,  disguised  as  a  coachman,  he  followed  the  king, 
and  got  out  of  Paris  the  coach  which  took  the  king  in  his 
flight  to  Varennes.  Arrested,  then  released,  he  tried  after 
wards  to  make  the  king  escape  from  the  Temple.  After  the 
death  of  Louis  the  Sixteenth  he  returned  to  Sweden,  and  was 
there  in  great  favor  with  Charles  the  Thirteenth,  who  ap 
pointed  him  Grand  Marshal  of  the  Palace  and  Chancellor  of 
the  University  of  Upsala.  He  was  sent  to  Vienna  with  a 
secret  mission  in  171) I.  Ambassador  to  the  Imperial  Diet  in 
1797,  and  afterwards,  in  1803,  at  Dresden.  Unjustly  accused 
by  the  people  of  having  helped  in  the  death  of  the  Duke  of 
Augustenburg,  he  was  killed  in  .June,  1S10,  during  a  riot. 

FIGAXIERE  (Cesar- Henri  de  la),  of  the  Figaniero  family  of 
Provence,  entered  the  French  navy  when  a  boy.  He  offered 
his  services  to  John  Paul  Jones,  who  gave  him  a  commission 
as  lieutenant  on  the  Bonhomme  Richard  when  he  was  only 
seventeen  years  old.  A  certi tieate,  dated  October  the  29th, 


176  Various  manuscripts  and  memoirs. 


124  The  French  in  America. 

1779,  signed  by  Paul  Jones,  attests  the  courage  of  the  young 
officer,  who  afterwards  served  on  the  squadron  of  the  Count 
de  Grasse.  He  was  decorated  with  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

He  served  afterwards  under  La  Motte-Piquet,  and  was 
badly  wounded  in  an  action  before  Trincomalee,  in  Ceylon. 
When  the  Kevolution  broke  out  he  was  offered  the  command 
of  a  frigate  by  the  Republican  minister  of  the  navy,  but  as 
he  was  a  Royalist  he  refused  it,  and  emigrated  to  Italy.  He 
then  served  as  lieutenant  in  the  British  navy,  but  resigned  in 
1797  on  account  of  being  a  Catholic.  When  the  government 
of  Portugal  asked  the  British  government  for  some  officers  to 
serve  in  the  Portuguese  navy  de  Figaniere  was  one  of  those 
sent.  He  became  in  succession  captain  of  corvette,  captain  of 
frigate,  and  naval  captain. 

In  Portugal  he  married  Donna  Violante  Rosa  Morao.  He 
died  at  Lisbon,  October  the  31st,  1830.177 

FLADEN  or  FLAD  (Charles-Louis  de),  born  at  Manheim 
the  17th  of  July,  1738  ;  cadet  in  the  service  of  the  Palatinate 
in  1757;  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  the 
18th  of  October,  1777  ;  made  the  campaigns  of  Germany  and 
that  of  America  with  Rochambeau;  distinguished  himself  at 
Yorktown,  and  received  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis. 

FLECHEN  DE  VAMIN  (Charles-Franyois-Joseph,  Count  de), 
entered  the  service  in  1760  ;  was  appointed  captain  the  7th 
of  June,  1776,  and  mestre  de  camp  en  second  in  the  regiment 
of  Touraine  the  13th  of  April,  1780.  He  went  to  the  col 
onies  with  his  regiment,  and  distinguished  himself  especially 
at  Saint  Christopher,  where,  with  a  small  corps  of  three  hun 
dred  grenadiers  and  chasseurs,  he  repulsed  a  troop  of  fourteen 
hundred  men,  whom  the  English  had  disembarked.  His  con 
duct  before  Yorktown  was  also  worthy  of  praise. 


"information  received  from  the  Viscount  de  la  Figaniere,  Portu 
guese  minister  to  Saint  Petersburg.    T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  125 

FLEURY  (Francis-Louis  Teisseidre,  Marquis  de),  the  hero 
of  Stony  Point ;  son  of  Francis  de  Fleury  and  Marguerite 
Domadieu,  his  wife.  He  was  born  the  28th  of  August,  1749, 
at  Saint-Hippolyte,  in  Languedoc. 

La  Fayettc  says  in  his  Memoirs  that  de  Fleury  belonged 
to  the  regiment  of  Gatinais,  but  in  a  document  in  the  archives 
of  the  French  \Yar  Department  it  is  stated  that  he  entered 
the  regiment  of  Kouergue  as  volunteer  on  the  loth  of  May, 
1768,  and  served  in  it  during  the  campaign  of  Corsica,  ris 
ing  gradually  to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant. 

In  1776  he  sailed  for  America  with  Tronson  Ducoudray,178 
having  received  a  leave  of  absence  and  the  rank  of  captain 
of  engineers  from  his  government.  On  his  arrival  he  joined 
the  American  army  as  volunteer,  and  accompanied  it  in  this 
capacity  during  a  part  of  the  campaign  of  1777.  He  receivcxl 
the  rank  of  captain  for  his  gallant  conduct  at  the  battle  of 
Biscatagua.179  He  was  then  sent  to  Philadelphia,  coming  the 
atre  of  the  war,  to  map  its  suburbs,  sound  the  Delaware,  and 
fortify  Billingsport.  He  rejoined  the  army  with  the  rank  of 
major  of  brigade  when  the  enemy  landed  at  Hith. 

His  brave  and  gallant  conduct  at  the  Bramlvwine  on  the 
llth  of  September,  1777,  where  he  remained  on  the  battle 
field  after  the  rout  of  his  brigade,  and  had  his  horse  killed 
under  him,  attracted  the  notice  and  admiration  of  AVashing- 
ton,  who  drew  the  attention  of  Congress  to  him.  The  quar 
termaster-general  received  orders  to  present  de  Fleury  with  a 
horse,  "  in  token  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  his  merit  was 
held  by  Congress.180  He  served  as  major  of  the  brigade  of 
dragoons  at  the  battle  of  Germantown  ;  was  wounded  in  the 
leg,  took  several  prisoners,  and  had  the  horse,  given  to  him  by 
Congress,  killed  under  him.  He  was  then  sent  as  engineor-in- 
chief  to  Fort  Mifflin,  on  Mud  Island,  which  was  threatened 

178  See  Vol.  I.,  pages  80,  81. 

179  Mi'moire  of  de  Fleury  in  Archives  of  French  War  Department. 

180  J/t'woiVe  of  de  Fleury  in  Archives  of  French  War  Department. 


126  The  French  in  America. 

by  the  English  squadron  and  army.  There  he  sustained  a 
siege  of  six  weeks,  during  which  the  August,  of  sixty-four 
guns,  and  the  Merlin,  of  twenty-two  guns,  were  blown  up  by 
the  fire  of  the  fort.  The  commandant  and  the  garrison  of 
six  hundred  men  were  relieved  three  times,  but  de  Fleury 
steadily  refused  to  quit  his  post.  He  was  severely  wounded 
on  the  16th  of  October,  and  the  same  night  the  fort  was 
evacuated.  He  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  received 
a  letter  of  thanks  for  his  able  and  valiant  conduct  from  the 
President  of  Congress. 

During  the  winter  of  1778  he  formed  the  bold  project  to 
cross  the  ice  and  set  fire  to  the  English  squadron.  The 
Delaware  not  being  entirely  frozen  that  winter,  he  invented 
"  batteaux  mines,"  which  were  to  be  worked  by  the  repul 
sion  of  fusees;  but  whilst  he  was  working  on  them  he  was 
ordered  to  the  Army  of  the  North.  The  expedition  into 
Canada  did  not  take  place.  On  his  return  he  was  made  in 
spector,  and  was  charged  Avith  instructing  and  disciplining  the 
troops. 

At  the  opening  of  the  campaign  of  1778  he  was  the  second 
in  command  of  a  picked  corps  (which  comprised  the  body 
guard  of  the  general)  of  six  hundred  men,  two  pieces  of 
artillery,  and  fifty  cavalry.  He  led  it  into  action  at  the  battle 
of  Monmouth.  Washington  sent  him  to  meet  the  Count 
d'Estaing  on  the  latter' s  arrival  in  America,  and  he  accom 
panied  him  to  Rhode  Island,  which  was  to  be  attacked.  His 
entreaties  prevailed  on  the  admiral  to  raise  the  useless  siege 
of  Newport,  and  to  retire  to  the  north  of  the  island.  His 
company  repulsed  the  enemy  and  covered  the  retreat.181  Count 
d'Estaing  wrote  to  General  Washington  :  "  Allow  me  to  recom 
mend  M.  de  Fleury  especially  to  your  good  graces.  General 
Sullivan  will  tell  you  all  about  his  conduct  at  Rhode  Island. 
He  is  an  excellent  officer  and  a  useful  Frenchman.  I  hope 


181  Mcmoire  of  de  Fleury  in  Archives  of  French  War  Department. 


List  of  Officers.  127 

to  serve  again  with  him.    He  is  a  man  made  to  unite  private 
individuals  in  the  same  way  that  our  nations  are  united.182 

De  Fleury  commanded  a  regiment  of  light  cavalry  when 
the  campaign  of  1779  opened.  He  was  the  first  to  scale 
the  ramparts  of  Stony  Point,  and  he  carried  off  the  English 
flag  with  his  own  hand.  For  this  brilliant  deed  Congress 
awarded  him  a  medal,  which  was  fastened  to  a  band  cut  from 
the  flag  he  had  so  gallantly  captured.  He  was  the  only 
Frenchman  to  whom  such  an  honor  was  accorded.  This  medal 
is  in  the  collection  given  by  M.  Vattemare  to  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  of  Paris,  and  he  describes  it  as  follows :  "  A  general 
in  Roman  costume,  standing  on  a  pile  of  ruins,  holding  in 
one  hand  a  drawn  sword  and  in  the  other  a  flag,  on  which 
he  is  trampling.  Let/end:  VIRTUTIS  KT  AroAci.E  MONTM 
ET  PR.EMUM. — Exeryue.  D.  DE  FLEURY  EQUITI  GALL<> 
PIUMO  SUPRA  Muiios,  RESPUIJ.  AMERIC.  (Duvivier  fecit.) 
Reverse — A  fortress  built  on  a  rock  and  besieged  by  a 
squadron.  Lcycnd :  AGGERES,  PALUDES,  HOSTES  VICTL— 
Excrc/uc.  STONY  POINT.  Jul.  mdcclxxix." 

The  President  of  Congress  wrote  to  him  :  "  Congress  hopes 
that  your  own  country  will  show  its  appreciation  of  your 
merit."183  And  the  French  minister  wrote  "that  he  flattered 
himself  that  the  Court  would  give,  in  the  person  of  M.  dc 
Fleury,  a  proof  to  America  of  the  satisfaction  with  which  it 
has  seen  that  a  French  officer  had  been  so  useful  in  her 
service."184  When  de  la  Lu/erne  arrived  (ieneml  Washing 
ton  begged  him  to  give  an  account  of  de  Flcury's  gallant 
conduct  to  the  French  Court;  and  de  la  Lu/erne  wrote  to 
the  Council  about  it. 

At  the  end  of  the  campaign  de  Fleury  asked  for  and  ob 
tained  a  leave  of  absence  of  nine  mouths,  and  General  Wash 
ington  wrote  to  Congress  on  de  Fleury's  departure  that  he 

182  Letter  of  d'Estaing. 

183  Alfonolre  of  de  Fleury  in  Archives  of  French  War  Department. 

184  Memoirc  of  de  Fleury  in  Archives  of  French  War  Department. 


128  The  French  in  America. 

hoped  for  the  return  of  an  officer  who  had  rendered  such 
important  services. 

De  Fleury  returned  to  France.  While  there  he  addressed 
a  memoir  to  the  Court,  wherein  he  gave  an  account  of  his 
services,  ending  as  follows  :  "  M.  de  Fleury  having  thus  by 
his  services  risen  from  the  rank  of  simple  soldier  to  that  of 
lieutenant-colonel,  honored  by  the  goodwill  of  the  nation 
and  the  army,  by  the  esteem  of  Congress,  by  the  confidence 
of  his  general,  ventures  to  solicit  some  sign  of  the  approbation 
of  his  prince  and  of  the  minister  under  whose  auspices  he 
passed  into  the  service  of  the  allies  of  France.  Although 
convinced  that  he  owes  his  success  more  to  his  good  fortune 
than  to  his  talents,  and  that  his  zeal  alone  was  able  to  com 
pensate  for  his  inability,  he  ventures  to  hope  that  his  country 
will  not  disdain  his  services,  and  that  that  happiness  of  every 
Frenchman,  the  return  to  a  loved  land,  will  not  be  for  him 
a  sorrow  and  a  disgrace.  P.  S. — M.  de  Fleury  has  drawn 
some  plans  and  written  some  memoirs  which  have  received 
the  approbation  of  M.  Girard.  He  asks  leave  to  present 
them  to  the  minister." 

De  Fleury  received  the  rank  of  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis 
on  the  5th  of  December,  1781,  and  a  pension  of  four  hundred 
livres  was  awarded  to  him  for  his  services  at  the  siege  and 
capture  of  Yorktown.  He  returned  to  America  on  the  Aigle 
with  the  Prince  de  Broglie  and  several  other  officers,  and  re 
joined  the  army;  but  finding  that  the  war  was  practically 
over,  and  that  his  services  were  no  longer  necessary,  he  went 
to  South  America  to  make  some  explorations.  On  his  return 
to  France  he  was  made  colonel  of  a  regiment  at  Pondichery  in 
1784,  and  died  in  his  native  land  with  the  rank  of  marechal 
de  camp.185 

185  This  notice  of  de  Fleury  was  dictated  by  my  father  to  rny  sister 
and  published  in  the  Magazine  of  American  History  for  1877,  pages 
724-726.  I  have  inserted  it  in  place  of  the  original  one  in  the  List  of 
Officers,  as  it  is  more  complete.  E.  S.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  129 

FLORENT  (Domergue  de  Saint).     See  DOMERGUE. 

FOKS  (Baron  de).  De  Lauzun  in  his  Memoirs  mentions 
this  officer  as  his  aid-de-camp  at  Newport  just  as  he  was  re 
turning  in  March,  1783. 

FOLIE  (De  La),  infantry  officer,  wounded  at  the  naval  ac 
tion  off  Saint  Lucia  the  19th  of  May,  1780. 

FOLUERP;.     See  FALUER. 

FONTANGES  (Viscount  de),  born  the  21st  of  March,  1740, 
at  Monthiyon  in  Allicr.  Entered  the  service  as  lieutenant  in 
the  infantry  regiment  of  Poitou  the  1st  of  January,  17-~><'>; 
appointed  captain  in  the  same  regiment  in  1 758.  He  made 
first  the  campaigns  of  Germany  from  1757  to  1763,  was 
wounded  at  Rosbach  the  5th  of  November,  1757,  and  served 
with  his  rank  of  captain  until  May,  1775,  at  which  time  he 
passed  into  the  Department  of  the  Navy  and  of  the  Colonies, 
and  was  appointed  major  in  the  regiment  of  the  Cape  at  Saint 
Domingo.  He  reached  his  post  in  September,  1775.  Chevalier 
of  Saint-Louis  in  1777;  lieutenant-colonel  in  1778;  colonel  in 
1780.  In  the  position  of  major-general  of  the  landing  forces 
of  the  naval  army  of  the  Count  d'Estaing  in  July,  177->,  he 
took  part  in  the  siege  of  Savannah.  He  commanded  there  a 
legion  of  mulattoes,18*'1  and  he  saved  the  army  after  the  useless 
assault  on  the  fortifications  by  bravely  covering  the  retreat. 
He  was  there,  on  the  7th  of  October,  177'>,  dangerously 
wounded  bv  a  gunshot.  Among  the  blacks  who  distinguished 
themselves  in  this  action  were  Andre  Kigaud,  Beauvais,  Yil- 
latte,  Beauregard,  and  Lambert,  who  became  afterwards  gen 
erals  under  the  Convention,  and  also  Henri  Christophe,  the 
future  King  of  Hayti.187 


1W  According  to  my  manuscripts,  of  more  than   eight  hundred  men. 
187  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars. 


130  The  French  in  America. 

De  Fontanges  was  in  command  at  Saint  Domingo  at  the 
time  of  the  revolt  of  the  negroes.  He  was  forced  to  fly  to 
France,  where  he  died  on  the  18th  of  June,  1822. 

FONTIVEAUX  (Chevalier  de).     Lieutenant  in  the  service  of 

Congress.188 

FORET,  sergeant  of  chasseurs  of  Gtltinais,  who  was  chosen 
with  Le  Cornet,  sergeant-major,  to  march  at  the  head  of  the 
column  of  attack  of  the  great  redoubt  at  Yorktown,  and  to 
direct  the  men  with  axes  who  were  to  cut  down  the  palis- 
sades  and  the  abatis.  He  showed  much  bravery  on  this  oc 
casion.  Private  in  1769,  sergeant  in  1781. 

FORGERIE  (De  la),  infantry  officer,  sub-lieutenant  of  Age- 
nois,  killed  at  the  naval  action  off  Saint  Lucia.189 

FOSSELIX  DE  LEAUMONT.     See  LEAUMONT. 

FOUCAULT  (Jean-Simon-David  de),  born  in  the  Island  of 
Re  on  the  26th  of  February,  1741  ;  entered  the  service  in 
1760  ;  captain  of  chasseurs  of  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  the  28th 
of  August,  1777  ;  was  wounded  at  the  attack  on  Savannah; 
took  part  in  the  combats  of  La  Motte-Piquet ;  was  decorated 
the  4th  of  April,  1781,  and  was  present  at  the  attack  of  the 
redoubt  of  Yorktown. 

FOUQUET  D'AUVILLERS  (Jean-Gabriel-Rene-Fran9ois),  mestre 
de  camp  commanding  the  regiment  of  Armagnac,  born  at  Metz 
the  13th  of  March,  1751.  Decorated  for  the  bravery  he 
showed  at  the  capture  of  Saint  Christopher. 

FRANCHESSEN  (Jacques-Antoine  de),  enlisted  as  volunteer 
the  20th  of  July,  1776  ;  was  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis.  He 

188  Records  of  the  Revolution. 

189  L.  B.,  261. 


List  of  Officers.  131 

received  from  Congress  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  on  en 
tering  the  service.190 

FKANCY  (Theveneau  de),  after  being  a  student  in  the  navy, 
was  employee  of  Beaumarchais  in  France.  He  showed  much 
intelligence,  and  obtained  the  confidence  of  his  employer  to 
such  an  extent  that  he  intrusted  him  to  go  and  look  out  for 
his  interests  and  represent  him  in  America.  Franey  started 
towards  the  end  of  1777.  He  had  accumulated  a  rather  large 
fortune  in  the  service  of  Bcaumarchais,  and,  nevertheless,  while 
supporting  his  interest  before  Congress,  he  took  service  in  the 
militia  as  volunteer.  He  fought  bravely,  especially  at  the 
Brandywine,  under  the  orders  of  Conway. 

Beaumarchais  asked  for  him  and  obtained  a  commission  of 
captain  for  the  colonies,  which  he  scut  to  him  in  America, 
with  epaulettes  made  by  Madame  de  Beaumarchais.  But 
young  Francy  had  delicate  health.  He  was  troubled  with 
his  lungs,  and  having  returned  from  America  to  Paris  in 
1782,  he  died  in  that  city  in  1783.191 

FRKNE  (Chevalier  de),  major  of  the  regiment  Royal-( 'om- 
tois.  At  the  head  of  the  chaxxcurv  of  this  regiment,  and  with 
the  help  of  that  of  Auxerrois,  he  co-operated  actively  in  the 
recapture  of  Saint  Fustatius,  the  26th  of  November,  1781. 

FuRSTENWERTHER  (Charles,  Baron  de),  born  at  Muscnheiiu 
the  2 3d  of  August,  1741  ;  entered  the  service  as  ensign  in 
the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  Sth  of  January,  1758; 
made  the  campaigns  of  Germany  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  and  was  appointed  captain-commandant  in  the  same 
regiment  in  1770.  lie  went  to  America  in  1781,  and  ob 
tained  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis  for  his  good  conduct  before 
York  town. 


190  Auberteuil. 

101  De  Lornenie.     Beaumarchais  ct  son  temps. 


132  The  French  in  America. 

G. 

GAILLOT  (Antoine),  entered  the  service  as  private  the  1st 
of  February,  1756;  was  appointed  sub-lieutenant  of  grenadiers 
of  Gatinais  the  21st  of  April,  1779.  Distinguished  himself 
before  Yorktown. 

GALATIN,  second  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux- 
Ponts;  entered  the  service  in  1776;  was  at  the  attack  of  the 
redoubt  of  Yorktown.  Mr.  Galatin,  of  New  York,  told  me 
that  he  was  a  near  relative  of  the  following  : 

GALATIN  (Albert),  born  at  Geneva  the  29th  of  January, 
1761;  went  to  America  in  1780;  served  as  volunteer,  and 
commanded  for  some  time  Fort  Passarnaquoddy  ;  Senator  of 
the  United  States,  Minister  of  Finance,  Ambassador  to  Saint 
Petersburg,  London,  and  Paris ;  literary  man  and  distinguished 
statesman.  Died  the  29th  of  August,  1849. 

GALTIER  D'ALAUSSE  (Joseph-Philemon).     See  ALAUSSE. 

GALVAN  (De),  French  officer,  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States  ;  was  charged  by  La  Fayette192 
to  await  the  arrival  of  de  Rochambeau  at  Cape  Henry  in 
case  he  should  have  disembarked  at  the  entrance  of  Chesa 
peake  Bay,  instead  of  at  Boston.  Gal  van  was  to  give  him  the 
instructions  of  de  Yergennes  and  valuable  advices  about  the 
situation  of  the  hostile  armies.  Another  officer,  whose  name 
is  not  given,  had  received  the  same  mission  to  Rhode  Island. 

GAMES  (Jean-Daniel  de),  born  at  Strasbnrg  in  1741  ;  en 
tered  the  service  in  1757  ;  was  appointed  captain  in  the 

192  See  Mcmoires  of  La  Fayette. 


List  of  Officers.  133 

regiment  of  Bourbonnais  in  1772,  and  major  in  the  same 
regiment  in  December,  1777.  He  made  the  campaigns  of 
Germany  and  Corsica,  and  then  went  to  America.  He  was 
an  officer  of  great  distinction,  and  the  oldest  major  in  the 
expeditionary  corps.  He  was  in  the  expedition  of  Destouches 
in  Chesapeake  Bay  in  September,  1781.  He  received  a  pen 
sion  for  his  courage  before  Yorktown.  He  died  at  Naples 
the  8th  of  June,  1823. 

GAN,  commissary  of  artillery,  arrived  at  Boston  the  20th 
of  August,  1780,  on  the  Alliance,  which  brought  also  de 
Pontgibaud  and  Commissary  Lee.193 

GANTHEAUME  (Henri-Honore-Joseph-Antoine,  Count  de), 
born  the  13th  of  April,  1755;  enlisted  at  the  age  of  four 
teen  as  a  sailor  on  a  ship  of  his  father's  ;  at  twenty-two  years 
of  age  had  made  seven  campaigns  to  the  East  and  to  the 
Antilles;  then  officer  of  the  merchant  navy  in  the  service  <>f 
Beaumarchais  ;  was  present  at  the  action  of  Grenada,  fought 
by  d'Estaing  with  Admiral  Byron  the  12th  of  July,  1779,  on 
board  of  the  Fier-Itmlrif/ue,  which  was  much  damaged,  and 
whose  captain,  de  Montaut,  was  killed.1*4 

Beaumarchais  made  Gantheaume  enter  the  navy.19''  He  was 
present  at  the  rapture  of  Grenada  and  at  the  siege  of  Sa 
vannah,  and  took  part  in  the  last  actions  fought  by  the  >'///•- 
vclllantc  and  the  Apollon.m 

Naval  captain  in  17-)4,  he  made  the  campaigns  of  the 
Republic  ;  was  chief  of  staff  of  Bruevs  and  wounded  at 
Aboukir;  returned  from  Egypt  with  Bonaparte,  and  was 


!WBlanchard. 

l*  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars  and  Joimud  d'uii  orUcn-r  <le  inn  rim'. 

rx> According  to  the  Archiirs  of  the  French  navy;  but  the  Encyclo 
pedia  of  Chronology,  London,  Longmans,  says  he  had  entered  the  royal 
navy  in  17(>9. 

196  De  Lome'nie. 


134  The  French  in  America. 

covered  with  honors  after  the  18th  Brumaire ;  vice-admiral 
in  1804,  and  later  commander  of  the  naval  army  charged 
with  making  a  descent  on  England.  He  joined  the  Royalists 
when  the  Emperor  fell,  kept  aloof  during  the  "  Hundred 
Days/'  and  served  the  Bourbons,  who  gave  him  the  cross  of 
commander  of  Saint-Louis  and  the  peerage.  He  died  the 
28th  of  September,  1818. 

GARAVAQUE.     See  CARAVAGNE. 
GAUGUET,  officer  of  the  Vengeance. 

GENVILLE  (Barthelemy-Laurent  Levert  de),  born  in  1759 
in  Franche-Cointe ;  cadet  gentUhomme  in  1776;  second  lieu 
tenant  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  in  November,  1781.  Fol 
lowed  this  regiment  to  the  colonies,  then  went  with  it  to 
America ;  distinguished  himself  at  Savannah,  at  Yorktown, 
and  was  taken  prisoner  in  the  action  of  the  12th  of  April, 
1782,  on  the  ship  the  Hector. 

GEOGHEHAM.  Name  of  two  brothers,  Irishmen,  mentioned 
by  Dr.  Dubourg  in  his  letter  of  the  10th  of  June,  1776,  to 
Dr.  Franklin.  He  has  not  been  able  to  promise  them  any 
thing,  but  he  gives  to  understand  that  they  are  very  distin 
guished,  and  that  if  they  should  go  to  America  they  ought 
to  be  made  general  officers.  One  is  lieutenant-colonel  of  cav 
alry  in  France,  the  other  captain  in  India,  where  he  is  in 
reality  at  the  head  of  a  small  army. 

GILBERT  (Melchior-Joseph  de),  born  the  4th  of  October, 
1737,  at  Die  in  Dauphine ;  entered  the  service  in  1756;  ap 
pointed  captain-commandant  of  Soissonnais  the  llth  of  May, 
1769.  Distinguished  himself  before  Yorktown,  and  was  dec 
orated. 


List  of  Officers.  135 

GIMAT  (De),  enlisted  as  volunteer  ;  first-aid-de-camp  of  La 
Fayette,  who  liked  him  especially.197  He  saved  perhaps  La 
Fayette  at  the  battle  of  the  Brandywine  in  1777,  by  giving 
the  General  his  own  horse  at  the  time  La  Fayette  received 
a  ball  through  the  leg.  He  it  was  whom  La  Fayette,  in 
1778,  intrusted  a  challenge  to  for  Lord  Carlisle,  for  offensive 
remarks  to  the  honor  of  France  which  the  diplomatist  had 
published.  Lord  Carlisle  declined,  covering  himself  by  his 
position  of  plenipotentiary. 

De  Gimat  also  had  the  mission  of  awaiting  the  Count  de 
Grasse  at  Cape  Henry  in  1781,  when  this  admiral  was  ar 
riving  with  Saint-Simon  and  some  troops.  He  gave  him  the 
instructions  of  La  Fayette. 

DC  Gimat  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  by  Congress  on 
the  17th  of  November,  1777,  was  promoted  the  following  year 
to  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  received  the  command  of  a  regi 
ment  of  riflemen.  He  was  wounded  before  Yorktown  at  the 
attack  of  the  redoubt  on  the  left  of  the  enemy.  After  the 
peace  of  1783  he  received  a  command  in  the  French  Antilles, 
and  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Martinique. 
Decorated  with  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 


GOIIAT  !>!•:  BEAUMONT  (Alexis-Jean- Francois),  born  at  Li 
moges  the  2r>th  of  July,  17oo;  entered  the  service  in  1 7-">  1  ; 
was  appointed  captain-commandant  in  the  regiment  of  Saint- 
onge  in  1770.  He  made  with  distinction  the  campaigns  of 
Germany,  then  served  with  his  regiment  in  Cayenne.  He  re 
turned  to  France,  where  he  was  appointed  captain,  and  started 
again  with  the  expeditionary  corps  of  Rochambeau.  He 
showed  zeal  and  bravery  before  Yorktown. 

197 De   Chastellux    speaks  in    high   terms  of  de   Gimat,  saying:    ';  A 

French   officer   over  whom  I    claim   the   rights   of  a  sort  of  military 

paternity,   having   brought  him   up  in   my  regiment  from  his  earliest 
youth." 


136  The  French  in  America. 

GOUVION  (Jean-Baptiste),  born  the  7th  of  January,  1747  ; 
lieutenant  in  the  Military  School  of  Mezieres  in  1769 ;  in  the 
engineers  in  1771  ;  engaged  at  Paris  by  Franklin  in  1777 
with  de  Laumoy,  La  Radiere  and  Du  Portail  to  be  employed 
as  engineer.  He  had  served  since  1769  in  the  engineers. 
Congress  admitted  him  as  engineer  with  the  rank  of  major 
the  28th198  of  July,  1777,  and  breveted  him  colonel  the  17th 
of  November  of  the  same  year.  He  was  appointed  captain 
on  the  lists  of  the  French  army  in  1779,  and  the  services  he 
rendered  to  the  Americans  caused  him  to  receive,  at  the  peace, 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  provincial  troops,  rank 
he  already  held  in  the  United  States.  Pie  was  decorated  with 
the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

La  Fayette  chose  him  in  1789  for  major-general  of  the 
National  Guard  of  Paris.  In  1791  he  was  deputy  from  Paris 
to  the  Legislative  Assembly,  resigned  in  1792,  and  served 
under  La  Fayette  as  lieutenant-general  in  the  Army  of  the 
North. 

Gouvion  was  killed  the  llth  of  June,  1792,  by  a  cannon 
ball  near  the  village  of  Griduelle,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Maubeuge.  He  was  the  son  of  a  lieutenant  of  police  of 
Toul. 

His  brother  had  been  killed  while  serving  under  the  or 
ders  of  de  Bouille  during  the  revolt  of  the  troops  at  Nancy 
in  1791. 

He  was  a  relation  of  Gouvion  Saint-Cyr,  who  did  not  go 
to  America,  as  has  been  sometimes  said.199 

Gouzi£,  private  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois  in  1757  ;  was 
made  officer  in  1779.  Made  all  the  campaigns  of  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  and  showed  great  firmness  before  Yorktown. 

198 8th  of  July?    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

199  Saint-Cyr  was  captain  en  second  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge. 
Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  137 

Go  VERT  (Jacques- Paul),  breveted  captain -lieutenant  of  artil 
lery  by  Congress  the  29th  of  July,  177G.200 

GRANCHAIN  (De),  naval  captain,  who  was  joined  to  Lau- 
rcns  and  de  Xoailles  to  arrange  the  articles  of  capitulation  of 
Yorktown.201 

GRANDIERE  (De  La),  captain  of  the  ship  the  Conquerant, 
forming  part  of  the  squadron  that  started  from  Brest.  Distin 
guished  himself  at  the  naval  action  of  the  10th  of  April,  1781. 
His  son  had  been  killed  in  the  naval  action  off  Saint  Lucia 
on  the  lJ)th  of  March,  17SO.  At  the  battle  of  Ouessant,  the 
20th  of  July,  1778,  he  commanded  the  ship  the  Indien,  of 
sixty-four  guns.20"2 

"  De  la  Grandiere,"  says  Blanchard,  "  is  ill-humored,  big 
oted,  little  enlightened,  a  gambler,  self-interested,  taking  the 
communion  every  Sunday  without  being  more  humane  Ibr  his 
sailors  and  his  sick  ;  in  short,  a  Moliniste."-011  Further  on 
the  same  writer  adds  :  "  But  one  forgives  him  his  defects  on 
a  day  of  battle.  He  has  much  activity  and  coolness." 

GRANDSEIGNE  (Dc),  infantry  officer ;  wounded  at  the  naval 
action  off  Saint  Lucia  fought  by  de  (Jtiiehen  the  Itlth  of 
May,  1780. 

GRASSE  (Francois-Joseph-Paul,  Marquis  de  Tilly,  Count  de), 
born  at  Valette  in  Provence  in  1723  ;  entered  the  (!<il/ct/N  of 
IMiyion  (Ships  of  Malta)  as  early  as  July,  1734,  with  the  rank 

^Auberteuil. 

2"!   I         I?         1()0 
lj.     J}.,     !,»„. 

202  L.  B.,  08. 

^Followers  of  Molina,  a.  Spanish  Jesuit,  of  whom  Pascal  (Pensees) 
says :  "  They  are  people  who  know  the  truth,  but  only  uphold  it  as 
lon«jr  as  it  is  to  their  interest."  E.  »S.  B. 


138  The  French  in  America. 

of  marine  guard,  and  made  several  campaigns  against  the 
Turks.  Entered  the  French  fleets  in  1749,  and  served  under 
La  Jonquiere  at  Pondichery ;  was  captured  by  Admiral  Anson, 
and  kept  prisoner  two  years  in  England.  Naval  lieutenant 
in  May,  1754;  captain  in  January,  1762.  At  the  battle  of 
Ouessant,  in  1778,  he  commanded  the  ship  the  Robuste,  of 
seventy-four  guns.  In  1779,  under  the  orders  of  d'Estaing, 
he  helped  in  the  capture  of  Tabago.  In  1781,  although  he 
had  been  a  shorter  time  in  the  service  than  the  Count  de 
Barras,  he  was  intrusted  with  the  command  of  a  fleet  which 
brought  succor  to  the  Americans,  and  received  the  title  of 
lieutenant-general,  which  gave  him  the  command  over  all 
the  other  general  officers.  The  Count  de  Barras  had  enough 
greatness  of  character  to  serve  under  his  orders  in  these 
conditions  until  the  happy  ending  of  the  War  of  Independ 
ence. 

The  co-operation  of  the  Count  de  Grasse  was  much  more 
profitable  to  the  Americans  than  that  of  d'Estaing.  Count 
de  Rochambeau  having  asked  him  for  help  by  the  Concorde, 
which  found  him  at  the  Windward  Islands,  the  Admiral 
answered  that  he  would  start  with  twelve  hundred  thousand 
livres204  and  three  thousand  five  hundred  men  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  Marquis  de  Saint-Simon.  De  Rochambeau  would 
have  liked  five  or  six  thousand  men.  Still,  this  news  brought 
by  the  Concorde  filled  with  joy  the  allied  generals.  De  Grasse 
kept  his  word ;  he  started  on  the  4th  of  August  from  the 

204  De  Grasse  tried  to  procure  this  sum  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Cape,  but  it  was  impossible  to  find  it.  He  sent  the  frigate  the  Aigrette 
to  Havana.  The  commander  of  this  port  made  known  to  the  principal 
inhabitants  the  needs  of  the  French  army ;  at  once  every  one  sub 
scribed  ;  the  ladies  especially  brought  their  money,  and  even  their 
jewels,  and  the  same  day  there  was  collected  five  hundred  thousand 
piastres  (two  million  five  hundred  thousand  livres),  which  the  Aigrette 
took  to  de  Grasse,  who  then  wrote  from  Matanzas  to  the  ladies  of 
Havana  to  thank  them  for  the  essential  service  they  were  doing  to  the 
French  army,  and  to  praise  them  for  their  patriotic  devotion. 


List  of  Officers,  139 

Antilles  with  all  the  promised  succors.205  He  brought  them 
to  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay;  then,  the  3d  of  September, 
he  won  a  victory  over  the  fleet  of  the  English  Admiral 
Graves,  victory  which  allowed  the  troops  embarked  at  Annapo 
lis  under  the  command  of  Custine  to  make  their  junction  with 
those  de  Grasse  brought  himself,  and  with  the  army  of  La 
Fayette.  This  circumstance  decided  the  fate  of  Cornwallis 
and  that  of  his  army  shut  up  in  Yorktown. 

The  12th  of  April,  1782,  forced  to  fight  Admiral  Rodney 
near  the  Saintes  with  inferior  forces,  he  was  taken  prisoner. 
There  were  only  three  men  entirely  sound  left  on  his  ship 
when  he  was  forced  to  strike.206 

I  have  a  printed    sheet,  having   for  title:   "  Account  of  the 


206  De  Grassc  had  on  board  three  thousand  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  men,  besides  the  ordinary  crews  of  the  ships.  (Mercure  d<>  /•'/•<///<>•, 
October,  1781,  page  77.) 

This  news  was  brought  to  France  on  the  cutter  the  Mouclir,  Captain 
de  Negrier,  an  English  pri/e  recently  captured  at  Tabago,  which  left 
the  fleet  of  the  Count  de  Grasse  after  the  difficult  passage  of  the  canal 
of  the  Bahamas.  (Idem,  page  123.) 

918  This  is  what  one  reads  in  the  book  of  M.  de  Saint-Yallier,  already 
cited.  It  is  an  example  of  the  insults  which  were  hurled  at  de  (irasse 
in  France  on  account  of  his  want  of  success  : 

"After  his  important  victory  of  the  12th  of  April,  17S2,  Admiral 
Rodney  hastened  to  send  de  Grasse  to  London,  as  the  principal  trophy 
of  his  victory.  The  French  admiral  was  well  received  ;  he  seemed  to 
be  assisting  at  a  real  triumph  ;  he  was  received  at  Court,  and  he  never 
missed  accepting  the  numerous  invitations  he  received,  nor  to  show 
himself  on  the  promenades  or  on  his  balcony.  The  people  who  ac 
claimed  him  wished,  doubtless,  by  exaggerating  his  merit,  to  increase 
their  own  glory  and  the  success  of  Admiral  Rodney;  but  Count  de 
Grasse  did  not  seem  to  look  on  it  thus,  and  until  the  peace  he  enjoyed 
this  strange  infatuation  of  his  enemies. 

"  De  Grasse  stupidly  attributed  this  reception  to  his  own  merit.  In 
France  he  was  treated  quite  otherwise;  he  was  jeered  at;  the  women 
wore  golden  crosses  d  la  Jcunnettc,  with  a  heart  on  them.  Those  made 
a  la  de  Cirasse  had  no  heart. 

"  De  Grasse,  in  his  naivete,  told  how  the  King  of  England  had  said 
to  flatter  him  :  '  I  would  see  you  with  pleasure  again  at  the  head  of  the 
French  armies.'  " 


140  The  French  in  America. 

naval  action  of  the  Count  de  Grasse  with  Admiral  Rodney" 207 
It  is  dated  from  Martinique  on  the  17th  of  April,  1782,  and 
begins  thus :  "  There  has  arrived  to-day,  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  a  cutter  bringing  the  following  news  of  the 
French  army,  which  is  to  windward  of  Guadeloupe."  They 
were  far  off  from  the  truth.  De  Grasse  only  returned  to 
France  two  years  later,  when  peace  was  concluded.  He  con 
tributed,  however,  during  his  captivity,  towards  bringing  about 
peace.  He  justified  himself  in  a  memoire"08  on  his  return, 
and  was  acquitted  by  a  court-martial  held  in  March,  1784. 
He  died  the  llth  of  January,  1788. 

In  a  letter  of  Washington  to  Kochambeau  of  the  22d  of 
April,  1788,  the  American  general,  alluding  to  the  misfortunes 
of  de  Grasse's  later  years,  said :  "  But  his  frailties  should 
now  be  buried  in  the  grave  with  him,  while  his  name  will 
be  long  deservedly  dear  to  this  country  on  account  of  his 
successful  co-operation  in  the  glorious  campaign  of  1781." 

GRASSE-LIMMERMONT  (De),209  about  whom  I  have  no  in 
formation. 

GRILLIERES  (Fran9ois-Marin  des  Bouillieres,  Chevalier  des), 
born  the  28th  of  October,  1752;  captain  en  second  in  the 

207  Detail  du  combat  naval  de  M.  le  Comte  de  Grasse  avec  Vamiral  Rodney. 

208  See  Vol.  I.,  page  9. 

In  his  memoire  he  said,  after  having  related  the  facts  of  the  battle : 
"  Such  are  the  circumstances  of  this  misfortune  to  the  arms  of  the 
king  and  to  mine.  One  must  not  be  surprised  thereat;  the  most  im 
portant  manoeuvres  were  not  carried  out ;  nine  of  my  signals  were  ab 
solutely  neglected.  It  is  for  my  judges  to  decide  whether  the  move 
ments  ordered  were  suitable  to  the  circumstances  of  the  combat  and 
to  the  winds  then  blowing.  I  submit  myself  to  their  knowledge  with 
as  much  confidence  as  respect.  It  is  my  signals,  it  is  the  defense  of 
my  ship  which  I  have  purposed  giving  to  their  examination.  *•  *  #  # 
I  am  the  first  general  of  the  French  army  to  be  judged  by  a  court- 
martial." 

209  L.  B.,  page  96. 


List  of  Officer*.  141 

regiment  of  Armagnac;  distinguished  himself  at  the  taking  of 
Saint  Christopher ;  commanded  a  picket  of  his  regiment  at 
the  attack  of  the  intrenchments  of  Savannah,  and  was  wounded 
there  by  two  gunshots.  He  was  then  under  the  command  of 
Count  de  Dillon.  He  also  took  part  in  the  expedition  to 
Hudson's  Bay  on  the  13th  of  June,  1782.210 

GuiciiARi)  entered  the  service  as  private  in  1746;  made 
all  the  campaigns  of  Germany  as  non-commissioned  officer, 
and  was  wounded  at  Laufeld.  Appointed  sub-lieutenant  of 
Soissonnais  in  1776,  he  made  the  campaign  of  America,  and 
was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  the  16th  of  March,  1781,  be 
fore  New  York. 

GriciiKN  (Louis-Urbain  du  Bouexic,  Count  de),  born  at 
Eougeres  in  1712,  died  at  Morlaix  in  1790.  He  entered  the 
navy  in  1730  as  guard,  and  went  through  all  the  ranks. 
Appointed  naval  captain  in  1756.  The  following  year  he 
commanded  the  Atalantc,  and  captured  four  English  privateers 
and  nine  merchantmen.  In  1778  chief  of  squadron  and  com 
mander  of  Saint-Louis.  He  was  present  on  the  27th  of  July, 
1778,  at  the  battle  of  Ouessant,  when;  he  took  the  place  of 
Count  Du  ChafFault  de  Bcsne,  who  was  wounded  while  com 
manding  the  rearguard.  In  177!)  he  became  lieutenant- 
general,  and  the  following  year  he  left  Brest  witli  fifteen 
vessels  to  replace  d'Kstaing  in  the  Antilles.  lie  escorted  a 
fleet  of  merchantmen,  and  arrived  safely  in  March,  1780,  at 
the  Martinique.  The  17th  he  met  Admiral  Rodney  and 
fought  a  successful  naval  action  with  him  near  Dominica, 
another  on  the  lf>th  of  May  following,  and  a  third  on  the 
19th.  Rodney  abandoned  the  town  after  the  loss  of  the 
Cormorant,  of  seventy-four  guns.  But  the  English  have 
always  held  that  Rodney  won  the  victory. 

210  See  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Perouse. 


142  The  French  in  America. 

In  1781  de  Guichen  was  made  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis, 
and  left  Brest  on  the  10th  of  December  with  nineteen  war 
vessels  and  many  merchantmen,  some  of  which  the  English 
Admiral  Kempenfeld  captured.  Let  ns  note  that  at  this  time 
the  escorting  of  merchantmen  had  become,  for  the  officers  of 
the  royal  navy,  a  secondary  matter,  a  thing  indeed  below 
their  dignity.211 

He  did  nothing  more  that  was  remarkable.  In  1784  Louis 
the  Sixteenth  made  him  chevalier  of  the  Saint-Esprit,  which 
position  was  not  generally  considered  suitable  for  the  dignity 
of  a  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis. 

H, 


HAAB  or  AHAAB,  naval  ensign,  a  Swrede.     Killed  the  5th 
of  September,  1781,  in  the  operations  before  Savannah.5 


212 


HAAK  (Frederic-Charles,  Baron  de),  born  at  Lappe  the  14th 
of  March,  1744.  Made  three  campaigns  in  Germany  in  the 
regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts ;  was  appointed  captain  of  the 
grenadiers  of  that  regiment  in  April,  1779.  He  received  the 
cross  of  Military  Merit  for  the  bravery  he  showed  at  the 
attack  of  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown. 

HADEN  (Charles-Louis  de),  born  at  Manheim  the  17th  of 
July,  1738 ;  entered  as  cadet  the  service  of  the  Palatinate  in 
1757  ;  captain  of  a  company,  lieutenant-colonel  of  Royal- 
Deux-Ponts  the  18th  of  October,  1777.  Received  the  cross 
of  Saint-Louis  for  his  conduct  before  Yorktown. 

HAINAULT  (Charles-Theodore),  born  at  Manheim  the  1st 
of  October,  1738  ;  entered  as  cadet  the  service  of  the  Prince 

211  See  Vol.  I.,  pages  109,  110,  and  pages   168-177.     Also   an   extract 
from  "  Journal  d'un  officier  de  marine"  page  24,  Paris,  1782. 

212  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-T houars. 


Lixt  of  Officers.  143 

Palatine  the  20th  of  August,  1756  ;  captain-commandant  of 
Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  22d  of  July,  1779.  Made  six  cam 
paigns  in  Germany  and  went  to  America  with  his  regiment. 
He  received  the  cross  of  Military  Merit. 


H(EX  (Chevalier  de  Dillenbourg).     See  DILLEXBOURG. 

HOUDETOT  DE  COLOMBY  (Marc-Joseph  d'),  born  the  18th 
of  June,  1752,  at  Saint  Martin  in  Fressin  ;  entered  the  service 
as  sub-lieutenant  of  Agenois  in  1777;  lieutenant  the  21st  of 
April,  177-).  He  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  by 
a  bayonet  thrust  in  the  right  thigh,  in  the  sortie  which  the 
English  made  during  the  night  of  the  15th  to  the  16th  of 
October,  1781,  on  the  battery  on  the  right  of  the  allies. 

HoLZENDORF  (Baron  de),  one  of  the  first  enlisted  volun 
teers  in  the  War  of  Independence,  received  the  brevet  of  lieu 
tenant-colonel  the  21)th  of  July,  1777,  with  pay  from  the 
preceding  17th  of  November.  He  resigned  the  31st  of  Jan 
uary,  1778. 

HUMBERT  (Claude-Jacques-Francois),  born  the  15th  of  Au 
gust,  1757  ;  entered  as  sub-lieutenant  the  regiment  of  Royal- 
Deux-Ponts  the  28th  of  August,  1777.  He  received  a  re 
ward  for  his  good  conduct  before  Yorktown,  and  the  rank  of 
lieutenant  in  Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  30th  of  January,  1 7«S2. 

I. 

ICIITERSHEIM  (Francois-Charles),  born  the  25th  of  Octo 
ber,  1 756 ;  entered  the  service  in  the  regiment  of  Royal- 
Deux-Ponts  in  1775  ;  second  lieutenant  the  28th  of  April, 
1778.  Received  a  reward  for  his  good  conduct  before  York- 
town. 


144  The  French  in  America. 

IMBERT  (Jean-Louis),  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the  War  of 
Independence;  employed  as  engineer  with  the  rank  of  captain 
the  19th  of  September,  1776.213 

IMBERT  DE  BARRY  (Denis),  born  the  llth  of  February, 
1742,  at  Puylaurens  in  Languedoc ;  entered  the  service  the 
4th  of  May,  1759,  as  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Age"- 
nois ;  sub-aid-major  the  llth  of  August,  1771  ;  captain  en  sec 
ond  the  llth  of  June,  1776.  Was  wounded  at  the  attack  of 
Savannah  by  a  shot  in  the  left  arm  ;  distinguished  himself  at 
Saint  Christopher. 

j. 

JAMES.     See  LONGUEVILLE. 

JONES  (John-Paul),  born  the  6th  of  July,  1747,  at  Arbig- 
land  in  Scotland;  died  in  Paris  the  18th  of  July,  1792.  His 
family  name  was  Paul,  but  he  added  to  it  Jones,  to  show  his 
gratef ulness  to  his  Virginian  benefactor.  At  the  age  of  twelve 
he  was  apprenticed  to  a  merchant  of  Whitehaven,  who  traded 
Avith  America,  and  he  made  his  first  voyage  to  the  United 
States,  where  his  brother  was  already  established,  and  where 
he  was  to  find  a  new  country. 

In  1775,  when  the  War  of  Independence  broke  out,  and 
the  American  Congress  thought  of  organizing  a  navy,  Paul 
Jones,  who  had  already  commanded  several  merchantmen,  and 
who  found  himself  in  Virginia  in  very  straightened  circum 
stances,  accepted  the  position  of  first  lieutenant  011  board  of  the 
Alfred.  He  was  soon  appointed  captain  of  the  Providence,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  those  little  known  but  heroic  early 
struggles  of  five  or  six  ships  against  the  numerous  vessels  of 
England.  In  May,  1777,  he  was  sent  to  the  American  com 
missaries  in  France  with  the  promise  of  a  more  important  com 
mand.  But  the  Court  of  Versailles  had  not  yet  pronounced 

a8Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  145 

officially  for  America,  and  they  had  to  be  content  with  sending 
him  to  cruise  with  his  frigate,  the  Ranger,  of  eighteen  guns, 
wherever  he  wanted  to,  with  no  other  instructions  than  to  do 
the  most  harm  he  could  to  England. 

In  consequence,  he  started  from  Brest  on  the  10th  of  April, 
1778,  on  that  famous  cruise,  which,  says  one  of  his  American 
biographers,  showed  the.  weak  side  of  England,  and  showed  for 
the  future  where  to  attack  it  in  its  own  home.  Using  the  inti 
mate  acquaintance  he  had  with  the  northern  coasts,  lie  made  a 
descent  at  Whitehaven,  burnt  the  port,  attacked  the  Island  of 
Saint  Mary's  and  surprised  the  castle  of  Lord  Selkirk,  of  which 
his  father  had  been  gardener,  lie  also  took  the  sloop  the 
Drake  on  the  coast  of  Ireland.  He  made1  a  second  no  less 
brilliant  expedition  in  August,  177(^,  with  the  rank  of  commo 
dore,  and  at  the  head  of  a  little  squadron  composed  of  French 
and  American  ships  and  crews.  He  was  on  a  forty-gun  ship 
equipped  by  France  to  which  he  had  given  the  name,  popular 
in  America,  of  Bonhomme  Richard.  These  forces  were  intended 
to  act  against  Liverpool,  and  La  Fayette,  on  his  return  from 
America,  was  to  command  a  landing  corps  of  seven  hundred 
men.  The  project  became  known  and  was  abandoned;  but  to 
make  this  cruise  famous  there  was  the  action  of  the  2'2d  of 
September  with  the  *sV/Y/y;/x,  an  English  ship  of  greater 
strength,  which  Paul  Jones  took  by  boarding  after  an  en 
gagement  of  four  hours.  On  his  return  from  these  two  cruises, 
in  which  he  had  captured  more  than  eight  hundred  prisoners 
and  spread  terror  on  all  the  coasts  of  England,  the  brave  sailor 
went  to  Versailles,  where  he  became  the  hero  of  the  dav.  The 
king  decorated  him  with  the  cross  of  Military  Merit,  and  gave 
him  a  sword  with  a  golden  handle  on  which  was  engraved  : 
[^ndicciti  niarix  Ludovicus  A'Tr/.  remunerator  xfrcmio  rindici. 
Other  honors  awaited  him  at  Philadelphia,  where  he  returned 
on  the  18th  of  February,  1781.  He  received  there  the  con 
gratulations  of  Congress,  a  gold  medal,  and  a  flattering  letter 
from  Washington. 


146  The  French  in  America. 

The  rest  of  his  career  offers  few  remarkable  events.  He 
went  on  board  of  the  fleet  of  Count  de  Vaudreuil  to  join 
Count  d'Estaing,  who  was  planning  an  expedition  against 
Jamaica,  but  peace  was  made.  He  then  returned  to  France 
for  the  liquidation  of  the  moneys  coining  from  the  prizes 
made  in  common  with  that  power,  and  negotiated  this  affair 
to  the  satisfaction  of  Congress.  The  following  year,  in  1784, 
he  entered  the  service  of  Russia,  and  was  employed  as  rear- 
admiral  in  the  war  against  the  Turks.  Court  intrigues  and 
quarrels  with  Potemkin  and  the  Prince  of  Nassau,  his  superi 
ors,  made  him  leave  the  service  about  1789.  He  asked  in 
vain  for  a  command  at  the  Court  of  Vienna,  and  returned  to 
Paris  in  1790.  He  lived  two  years  more  in  that  city  un 
known,  forgotten,  and  displeased  with  all  governments,  who, 
he  said,  did  not  appreciate  his  merit.  His  adventurous  career 
finished  on  the  18th  of  July,  1792,  and  the  Legislative  As 
sembly  decided  that  a  deputation  should  be  present  at  his 
interment.214 

Paul  Jones  had  all  the  instincts  of  a  real  sailor.  He  loved 
battle  as  did  the  battle-horse  spoken  of  in  the  Book  of  Job. 
As  he  was  very  able  in  manosuvring  his  vessel,  he  always 
tried  to  get  as  near  as  he  could  to  the  bowsprit  of  the  enemy's 
ship  and  to  give  him  a  broadside,  followed  by  boarding.  It 
was  to  this  manoeuvre  that  he  often  owed  his  successes.  In 
the  action  between  the  Bonhomme  Richard  and  the  flerapis,  he 
fastened  his  ship  to  the  enemy's  with  grapnels,  according  to 
his  old  privateersman's  customs.215 


214Didot. 

215 "  Of  whatever  size  was  the  ship,  the  buccaneers  went  without 
hesitation  to  boarding.  As  soon  as  the  grapnel  was  thrown  it  was  a 
captured  ship."  (Raynal,  Histoire  philosophique.  X.,  page  10.) 

His  adventures  furnished  the  matter  for  several  romances,  among 
others  the  Red  Rover  of  J.  Fenimore  Cooper.  De  Pontgibaud  recounts 
a  singular  occurrence,  an  attempt  at  murder  on  Paul  Jones  by  Captain 
Landais,  of  the  American  frigate  the  Alliance.  Among  the  curious  books 
which  I  have  collected  are  :  Paul  Jones,  ou  propMties  sur  I'Amerique, 


List  of  Officers.  147 

Paul  Jones  left  the  imprint  of  his  genius  on  the  American 
Navy.  One  of  his  cardinal  principles  was  "the  large  ball." 
He  said  that  one  large  bore  cannon  was  worth  two  of  smaller 
calibre,  and  the  brilliant  and  numerous  victories  of  the  Amer 
icans  in  the  war  of  1812—15,  between  the  United  States  and 
England,  showed  the  truth  of  the  principle. 

JUJARDY,  commissary  of  war  of  the  expedition  under  the 
orders  of  Blanchard.*16 

JUM6COURT  (IV),  oilicer  of  artillery,  Freemason,  caused 
his  friend  Blanchard  to  be  received  apprentice  of  the  Society 
of  Freemasons,  at  Providence,  together  with  de  Pisancon,  sec 
retary  of  Blanchard.217 


KALB  (Ilenry-Jules-Alexandre  von  Robaii,  .Baron  De),218 
born  at  Hiittendorf,  in  the  Margravedom  of  Baireuth,  the  29th 
of  June,  1721  (there  are  different  dates  given  in  different 
notices);  served  first  in  the  French  army,  in  the  regiment  of 
Royal-Deux-  Pouts,  during  the  Seven  Years'  War,  witli  the 
title  of  lieutenant-colonel  of  infantry.  He  received  from  de 
Choiseul  the  secret  mission  to  go  t«>  America  to  see  whether 
the  germs  of  revolt  were  sufficiently  developed,  and  to  stir  up 
the  feelings  of  the  malcontents.  He  left  London  on  the  4th 
of  October,  17(>7,  and  acquitted  himself  with  intelligence  of 


VAngleterri',  la  7<Vamv,  etc.,  }><tr  I*<inl  Join's,  corxnii't,  i>r<>i>hi'tf  it  w/v/,  /• 
coinmc  il  nVn  fut  jainaix,  An  \'  </,'  rindt'pfndi'ix;  <l<  /'.I  /////•/</>/<.  There 
are  several  biographies  of  Paul  Jones.  The  be.st  is  Lift-  <>j  J'<ti//  ,/«///<  x, 
by  Siinins,  New  York,  1845,  in  12mo.  See  also  the  Monism-  I'nir,  r.-«l 
and  Naval  History  of  the  United  >SYa/t'x,  ))y  J.  F.  Cooper. 

™Ktnts  Militaircs.  ' 

^Journal  of  Hlandiard. 

n8  The   knowledge   of   his    name,  von    Kobaii,   I   owe   to   M.    Pierre 
Margry,  which  information  1  have  found  nowheres  else. 


148  The  French  in  America. 

this  dangerous  role.219  He  traveled  under  a  disguise,  and  was 
arrested  in  Canada  as  a  suspect,  but  was  freed  through  want 
of  proofs.  He  returned  then  to  France,  but  soon  started 
again  for  America  with  La  Fayette  and  other  officers  in  the 
spring  of  1777. 

De  Kalb  held  in  France  the  position  of  brigadier  from 
1775.  Congress  commissioned  him  major-general  the  15th  of 
September,  1777.  He  was  with  the  column  which  La  Fay 
ette  commanded  in  his  march  from  South  Carolina  towards 
Philadelphia,  and  always  showed  the  greatest  courage.  His 
death  was  most  glorious.220  He  fell  at  Camden,  pierced  with 
eleven  wounds,  and  died  three  days  later,  on  the  16th  of  Au 
gust,  1780.  Congress  proposed  to  raise  for  him,  at  Annapolis, 
in  Maryland,  a  tomb  of  which  the  inscription  said  that  he 
was  then  forty-three  years  of  age.  However,  General  Henry 
Lee,  who  knew  him  intimately,  says  in  his  memoirs  that  he 
was  nearly  seventy,  but  that  the  vivacity  of  his  mind  and  the 
energy  of  his  physique,  kept  up  by  great  sobriety  of  living, 
would  give  the  idea  that  he  was  twenty  years  younger.221 

KALB  (De),  son  of  the  former,  was  born  in  the  Margrave- 
dom  of  Baireuth  in  1753,  and  served  also  in  America.  He 
was  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts ;  was 
present  at  the  assault  on  Yorktown  and  received  the  order  of 
the  Cincinnati.  He  is  mentioned  in  the  Etats  Militaires  of 
1779—80  as  being  in  the  Antilles. 

KERANDROAN  (De  la  lioche  de),  naval  ensign ;  killed  on 
the  Belle-Poute  the  20th  of  June,  1778.  In  July,  1776, 
Congress  appointed  him  engineer  in  the  service  of  the  United 


219  See  Vol.  L,  page  54. 

220  See  in  the  List  of  Officers  (for  the  letter  of  his  aid-de-camp) :  Du 
Buisson. 

221  This  notice  of  De  Kalb  must  be  rewritten.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  149 

States,  with  sixty  dollars  pay  a  month  and  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant-colonel.  He  served  in  the  army  of  Gates,  in  the  corps 
of  riflemen  commanded  by  Morgan,  and  retired  from  the 
service  with  the  rank  of  colonel  the  5th  of  March,  1778.222 

KERMAREC  (Louis-  Jean  -Eusebe  Ivoron  de),  born  at  Qiiim- 
perle  the  8th  of  December,  1  749  ;  was  lieutenant  of  Agenois 
during  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  where  he  distinguished  himself. 
He  was  wounded  at  the  action  of  the  12th  of  April,  fought 
by  Count  de  Grasse,  and  received  the  rank  of  captain  the 
1st  of  February,  1782. 

KERMORVAN  or  KERMOVAN  (Chevalier  de),  one  of  the 
tirst  French  volunteers  in  the  service  of  the  Americans.  It 
was  Barbier223  Dubourg  who  sent  him  to  Franklin.  De  Krr- 
morvan  distinguished  himself  at  Saratoga  on  the  7th  of  Octo 
ber,  1777,  by  turning  the  right  of  the  English,  and  by  oppos 
ing  thus  a  clever  maiKcuvre  of  Burgoyue. 


KEKN£  (Do),  infantry  officer,  wounded  in  the  naval  battle 
off  Saint  Lucia,  fought  on  the  10th  of  May,  17.SO,  by  do 
Guichen  with  Admiral  Rodney. 

KEROVAN.     See  QrEKoriiANT. 

KERVEGUEN  (Gauthier  do),  entered  the  service  in  1755  in 
the  position  of  naval  engineer;  wont  to  Saint  Domingo  as 
aid-de-camp  of  d'Fstaing  in  17<>();  appointed  engineer-geog 
rapher  of  the  camps  in  17(>7;  was  sent  to  Corsica  and  stayed 
there  until  17(>9.  Appointed  captain  of  infantrv  in  17<JO, 
ho  was  employed  on  the  coasts  and  on  the  frontiers  of  France 
until  ho  returned  to  the  Antilles  in  1777. 


'"  Auberteuil  and  American  Archit'c-s. 
833  Vol.  I.,  page  81. 


150  The  French  in  America. 

He  was  present  at  all  the  battles  on  land  and  sea  which 
took  place  during  the  twenty-one  months  of  campaign  of  the 
squadron  of  d'Estaing.  He  mounted,  one  of  the  first,  to  the 
assault  of  the  hills224  near  the  hospital  of  Grenada,  and  he 
also  gave  proof  of  courage  at  the  attack  of  the  intrenchments 
of  Savannah.  Decorated  with  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati.225 

KILLEMAINE,  or  better,  KILMAINE  (Charles- Joseph),226  born 
at  Dublin  in  1754  ;  entered  the  service  in  France,  and  went 
to  America  as  sub-lieutenant  in  the  legion  of  Lauzun.  De 
Rochambeau  having  ordered  Dumas,  in  July,  1781,  to  rec- 
onnoiter  as  near  to  New  York  as  he  could,  Dumas  took  a 
detachment  of  lancers  of  the  legion  of  Lauzun,  at  whose 
head  was  Kilmaine,  whose  vigor  and  intelligence  enabled  the 
reconnoitering  party  to  get  within  rifle  shot  of  the  enemy's 
works. 

Captain  in  1789.  He  was  employed  later  in  France  in  the 
Army  of  the  North  ;  was  at  Jemmapes  and  in  the  Vendee ; 
general  of  division  in  1793  ;  soon  after  general-in-chief  of 
the  Armies  of  the  North  and  of  the  Ardennes.  Distinguished 
himself  in  Italy  under  Bonaparte ;  general-in-chief  of  the 
Army  of  England  in  1798.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1799.227 

KLOCKER  or  DE  KLOCK  (Bernard-Antoine),  born  in  the 
Palatinate  the  16th  of  June,  1736;  enlisted  in  the  regiment 
of  Royal-Deux-Ponts ;  was  made  sergeant  the  1 8th  of  October, 
1756,  and  reached  the  rank  of  captain-commandant  in  the 
same  regiment  in  1778.  He  distinguished  himself  before 
Yorktown,  and  received  the  decoration  of  Military  Merit  on 
this  occasion. 


224  Morne*. 

225  Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars.     Marginal  note. 

226  Memoires  of  Dumas. 

227  The  Encyclopedia  of  Chronology,  London,  Longmans,  gives  the  name 
of  Charles  Jennings  Kilmaine,  and  makes  a  mistake  in  saying  that  he 
served  under  La  Fayette  instead  of  under   Lauzun. 


List  of  Officers.  151 

KOSCIUSKO  (Thaddeus),  born  in  Lithuania  of  an  ancient 
and  noble  family.  The  date  of  his  birth  is  uncertain.  The 
Biographie  Universelle  gives  the  28th  of  October,  1740,  which, 
I  think,  is  the  most  likely  date ;  in  the  Convcr.  Lax  and 
several  other  works  the  years  1753,  1755  and  1750  are 
mentioned.  He  was  a  student  at  the  Military  School  at 
Warsaw ;  studied  in  France,  in  Germany  and  in  Italy,  then 
served  in  Poland.  In  1775,  after  a  disappointment  in  love, 
he  embarked  on  a  ship  which  was  going  to  Martinique. 
Thence,  in  1770,  he  went  to  the  United  States,  where  he 
found  Pulaski,  who  presented  him  to  Washington.  He  was 
successively  aid-de-camp  of  Gates,  Armstrong,  Greene  and 
Washington.  He  was  appointed  engineer  bv  Congress,  with 
the  rank  of  colonel,  in  the  autumn  of  1777,  and  succeeded  to 
La  Radiere,  on  the  Upper  Hudson,  in  1778.  He  fortified 
the  camj)  of  Gates,  and  directed  the  works  of  West  Point. 
Much  esteemed  by  the  American  officers,  and  a  member  of  the 
society  of  the  Cincinnati.  He  returned  to  Poland  after  the  war 
in  178o ;  there  he  became  major-general  under  Poniatowski. 

In  17(.)4,  when  a  new  revolution  upset  Poland,  he  was 
made  generalissimo,  with  dictatorial  powers.  He  won  a  victory 
against  the  Russians  at  Raclawice  on  the  4th  of  April,  17JM. 
His  defense  of  Warsaw  was  glorious.  The  10th  of  October 
he  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Mazciewice, 
and  taken  to  Saint  Petersburg,  where  he  was  kept  until  the 
death  of  Catherine  in  17.M>.  The  Emperor  Paul  restored 
him  to  liberty,  and  wished  him  to  accept  a  command  in  his 
army,  but  Kosciusko  refused.  He  then  made  a  joiirncv  to 
the  United  States  in  17'.>7;  went  to  Philadelphia  and  New 
York,  and  Congress  ottered  him,  as  a  reward  for  his  services, 
a  land  grant,  which  he  refused.  He  returned  to  Switzerland, 
and  stayed  there  until  his  death,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1817.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Cracow. 

Popular  imagination,  in  England  as  well  as  in  America,  took 
hold  of  Kosciusko.  The  sympathy  felt  for  his  unfortunate 


152  The  French  in  America. 

country  was  much  increased  by  the  virtues,  the  patriotism, 
the  worth,  and  the  moral  height  of  the  man  it  had  chosen  for 
dictator.  He  was  the  hero  of  the  popular  romance  of  Miss 
Jane  Porter,  Thaddeus  of  Warsaw,  and  in  one  of  the  finest 
poems  of  the  English  language,  the  Pleasures  of  Hope,  by 
Campbell,  his  defeat  is  immortalized  in  bitter  regret : 

Hope,  for  a  season,  bade  the  world  farewell, 
And  Freedom  shrieked  when  Kosciusko  fell. 


L. 

LABLAXQUE  or  LABEXQUE  or  LALBEXQUE  (Jean-Francois 
de),  born  in  December,  1730,  at  la  Touray  in  Quercy.  En 
tered  the  service  in  1744;  captain  in  1757  in  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais. 

LABOKDE  DE  BEATJME  (Jean-Fran£ois),  born  the  7th  of 
February,  1743,  at  La  Bastide  in  Armagnac;  captain-com 
mandant  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  the  17th  of  August, 
1775.  Made  the  campaigns  of  Germany  and  of  the  colonies, 
and  was  decorated  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

LABORDE-MEREVILLE  (Fran9ois-Louis-Joseph,  Marquis  de), 
financier  and  politician.  Made  the  American  campaign,  and 
was  filling,  in  1789,  the  functions  of  guard  of  the  royal  treas 
ury.  Signer  of  the  oath  of  the  Jeu  de  Paume ;  defended  and 
sustained  the  ideas  of  political  and  religious  liberty ;  then 
retired  in  1791  to  England,  and  died  at  London  in  1801. 
Two  of  his  brothers,  Laborde-Bouteville  and  Laborde  de 
Marchainville,  were  on  the  expedition  of  La  Perouse. 

LA  COMBE.     See  QUEREXET. 

LACY  (L'abbe),  chaplain  of  the  French  hospital,  of  Irish 
origin.228 


Blanchard. 


List  of  Officers.  153 

LA  FAYETTE  (Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert  du 
Mothier,  Marquis  de),  born  the  6th  of  September,  1757;  son 
of  Michel-Louis-Christophe-Roch-Gilbert  du  Mothier,  Marquis 
de  La  Fayette,  Baron  de  Vissac,  Seigneur  de  Saint-Romain 
and  other  places,  and  of  the  Lady  Marie-Louise-Julie  de  la 
Riviere;  baptized  the  7th  of  September,  1757,  parish  of  Char- 
vanliac,  bishopric  of  Saint-Flour.  His  army  records  say  : 

1771,  9th  of  April,  musketeer  of  the  second  company;  1773, 
7th  of  April,  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  dragoons  of 
Noailles;  1774,  19th  of  May,  captain.  In  waiting  in  1776. 
1777,  went  to  North  America,  where  he  commanded  an  army 
corps.  He  pays  eighty  thousand  livrcx  for  the  regiment  of 
de  Crequy,  whose  titulary  colonel  he  becomes.  1779,  3d  of 
March,  incxtre  dc  camj),  commander  of  the  dragoons  of  the 
king.  1779,  1st  of  June,  returns  to  France  to  beg  help  in 
men  and  money  for  the  Americans,  and  is  appointed  aid- 
quartermaster-general  of  the  army  of  Brittany  and  Normandy, 
which  was  being  prepared  for  a  descent  on  England.  17SO, 
returns  to  America,  preceding  by  a  few  days  de  Rochambeau. 
1783,  12th  of  March,  brevet  of  marechdl  <1e  nnnjt  sent  with 
the  date1  of  the  1st  of  November,  1781.  Received  the  order 
of  the  Cincinnati. 

1788,  loth  of  July,  the  king  has  thought  tit  to  take  from 
him  his  letters  of  service  in  the  rank  of  acting  iiu'drc  <h-  camp. 
1789,  15th  of  July,  commander-general  of  the  National  Guard 
of  Paris;  protected  the  royal  family  during  the  5th  and  (Hli 
of  October ;  dispersed  by  force  the  people  assembled  on  the 
Champ  de  Mars  the  17th  of  July,  1791.  17(-M,  30th  of 
August,  commands  with  success  one  of  the  armies  intended  to 
drive  back  the  foreign  invasion  on  the  frontier  of  the  north. 

1702,  20th  of  June,  is  placed  out  of  the  pale  of  the  law  for 
having  tried  to  make  the  king  leave  Paris,  and  leaves  his  com 
mand  on  the  20th  of  August  with  Laumoy,  Latour  Maubourg, 
Lallemand,  du  Ron  re  and  others.  Arrested  during  his  flight 
by  the  Austrian*,  he  was  shut  up  in  the  citadel  of  Olmiitz 


154  The  French  in  America. 

for  having  aided  in  the  revolution.  He  remained  there  a 
prisoner  until  1797,  when  a  special  article  of  the  treaty  of 
Campo-Formio  restored  him  to  liberty. 

He  would  not  take  any  part  in  public  matters  under  the  Em 
pire,  and  was  elected  deputy  by  the  opposition  from  1814  to 
1830.  The  bitter  struggle  which  he  kept  up  against  the  Bour 
bons  was  only  interrupted  by  a  journey  to  the  United  States  in 
1825,  journey  which  was  a  continuous  ovation.  After  the  Rev 
olution  of  July,  1830,  and  for  the  second  time,  after  an  inter 
val  of  forty  years,  he  was  appointed  general-in-chief  of  the 
National  Guard,  and  tried  to  found  on  a  liberal  basis  the  gov 
ernment  of  Louis  Philippe,  Avhile  maintaining  order ;  but  by 
1831  he  had  recognized  that  the  hope  he  had  placed  in  the 
new  government  wras  an  illusion,  and  he  re-entered  the  ranks 
of  the  opposition.  He  stayed  there  till  his  death,  in  1834. 

It  would  be  too  long  to  give  here  the  complete  history  of 
his  sojourn  in  America,  from  1777  to  1782.  It  would  be  to 
rewrite  the  story  of  the  War  of  Independence  during  that 
period.  The  reader  will  find  some  notice  on  the  character 
and  the  role  of  La  Fayette  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  foreign 
volunteers.229 

I  will  summarize  this  part  of  his  life  by  saying  : 

He  arrived  in  America  in  July,  1777,  on  a  vessel  equipped 
at  his  own  expense  and  accompanied  by  a  number  of  French 
officers,  among  whom  were  de  Valfort  and  de  Ternan.  He 
made  the  campaign  of  that  year  with  the  rank  of  major-gen 
eral,  and  was  wounded  by  a  gunshot  in  the  leg  at  the  battle 
of  the  Brandy  wine.  "  Care  for  him  as  if  he  were  my  son/7 
said  on  this  occasion  General  Washington  to  the  surgeon  who 
was  attending  him. 

In  1778  he  was  appointed  general  commanding  a  corps  of 
troops  intended  for  an  expedition  into  Canada.  This  expe 
dition  did  not  take  place,  but  La  Fayette  stayed  at  the  head 


Vol.  I.,  Chapter  VII. 


List  of  Officers.  155 

of  a  part  of  the  American  army  and  helped  in  the  defense 
of  Ilhodc  Island. 

He  helped  also  the  cause  of  the  Americans,  during  the  year 
1 770,  by  going  to  France  to  ask  for  succors  ;  and  on  his  return 
to  America,  in  March,  1780,  he  commanded  a  picked  corps  in 
the  van  of  Washington's  army.  In  1781  he  was  charged  with 
the  defense  of  Virginia  with  a  little  army  of  ten  thousand  men, 
of  whom  three  thousand  two  hundred  were  French.  By  his 
brilliant  manoeuvres  he  forced  Lord  Cornwallis  to  take  refuge 
in  Yorktown,  where  he  was  soon  blockaded  by  all  the  allied 
forces  on  land  and  sea. 

Before  Yorktown,  La  Fayette  held  the  right  of  the  line  of 
attack,  and  during  the  night  of  the  14th  of  October,  while  the 
Baron  de  Viomenil  captured  the  great  redoubt  on  the  left,  at 
the  head  of  the  American  militia  La  Fayette  carried  the  one  on 
the  right.  After  this  double  success  the  town  had  to  surrender 
on  the  19th.  In  November,  1781,  he  went  to  France  to  carry 
the  full  accounts  of  this  success,  but  he  did  not  return.  His 
task  was  accomplished.  Yet  he  was  still  under  the  orders  of 
d'Fstaing,  ready  to  fill  the  position  of  major-general  of  the 
combined  armies  of  France  and  Spain  that  were  to  be  sent 
to  Jamaica,  when  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were  signed. 

LAFORKST  or  DKS  FOKKTS,  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Saint- 
onge,  highly  esteemed.  Blanchard  speaks  of  him  in  his  diary. 
De  Custine  one  day  made  reproaches  to  him  in  such  terms  that 
the  captain  had  to  ask  for  satisfaction.  Xot  having  been  able 
to  obtain  it,  lie  committed  suicide  from  despair.  This  event, 
which  became  known  a  few  moments  before  parade,  the  kli  of 
March,  1781,  caused  a  great  sensation.  De  (1ustine  was  in 
sulted,  and  had  it  not  been  for  some  of  the  higher  officers,  the 
soldiers  would  have  given  him  a  severe  punishment.  -'* 


230  See  Vie  dc  Cuxtine  by  one  of  his  aid-de-camps,  1802.     See  also  in  the 
List  of  Officers  :  Custine. 


156  The  French  in  America. 

LALBENQUE.     See  LABLANQUE. 

LAMETH.  There  were  three  officers  of  this  name,  three 
brothers,  who  came  to  America  and  fought  there.  They  were 
nephews  of  Marshal  de  Broglie.  They  are  often  mistaken  for 
one  another,  and  I  will  here  make  as  clear  as  possible  the  his 
tory  of  each. 

LAMETH  (Theodore,  Count  de,  and  later  Marquis  de),  the 
eldest,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1756.  He  was  naval  ensign  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  and  was  wounded  in  the  naval  action  off 
Grenada  the  7th  of  July,  1779.  He  it  was  who  was  ordered 
to  take  to  France  the  news  of  that  success.  He  served  after 
wards,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  as  captain  of  cavalry  in  the 
French  army.  He  was  appointed  marechal  de  camp  in  1791, 
did  not  adopt  the  Republican  ideas,  took  no  part  in  the  Revo 
lution,  and  was  content  to  maintain  discipline  in  his  regiment ; 
he  emigrated  in  1793  to  Hamburg,  returned  after  the  18th 
Brumaire,  and  took  no  further  part  in  politics.  He  died  in 
1834  at  his  niece's,  the  Marquise  de  jSTicolai'. 

LAMETH  (Charles-Malo-Franpois,  called  the  Chevalier  Vis 
count  de),  the  second  brother,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1757  ; 
served  first  in  the  regiment  of  Royal-Cavalerie ;  sub-lieuten 
ant  the  29th  of  July,  1776;  captain  the  6th  of  November, 
1779.  He  started  as  aid-de-camp  of  de  Rochambeau  with 
the  rank  of  aid-major-quartermaster-general.  In  the  cross 
ing,  which  he  made  with  the  expeditionary  corps,  he  was  on 
the  Jason  with  de  Fersen,  Collot,  Charlus,  and  his  intimate 
friend  Dumas.  He  showed  talent  and  courage  during  the 
campaign.  Dumas  tells  how  de  Lameth  wished  to  take  part 
in  the  attack  of  the  great  redoubt  of  Yorktown,  although  it 
was  not  his  turn  of  service.  AVliile  heading  the  assault  he 
received  two  gunshot  wounds,  one  of  which  broke  his  knee 
cap,  and  the  other  went  through  the  thigh  of  the  other  leg. 


List  of  Officers.  157 

He  would  not  allow  his  legs  to  be  amputated,  luckily  for 
himself,  since  at  the  end  of  two  months  he  was  able  to  re 
turn  to  France  almost  cured.  He  received  then  the  command 
of  the  cuirassiers  of  the  king  with  the  title  of  colonel. 

Chosen  deputy  to  the  States  General  by  Picardy,  whence 
his  family  came,  he  was  noted  for  his  advanced  liberalism. 
He  sat  with  the  left  and  voted  for  the  abolition  of  the 
privileges. 

In  1791,  he  fought  a  duel  with  the  Duke  de  Castries,  who 
wounded  him.  The  people  gave  him  an  ovation  after  this 
duel,  and  sacked  the  house  of  de  Castries.  Lameth  brought 
about  the  arrest  of  the  king  and  that  of  de  Bouille,  and 
was  elected  President  of  the  Assemby  the  5th  of  July,  1791. 

Appointed  commander  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the 
North,  he  fled  on  the  10th  of  August,  and  took  refuge  at 
Hamburg,  where  he  established,  with  his  brother  Theodore 
and  the  Duke  d'Aiguillon,  a  rich  mercantile  house.  He  re 
turned  to  France  after  the  18th  Brumaire,  re-entered  the 
service  in  1809,  and  was  lieutenant-general  in  1814.  He 
helped  the  Revolution  in  ISoO;  was  deputy  from  Pontoise, 
and  died  in  18o*2. 

LAMETH  (Alexandre-Theodore- Victor  de),  the  third  brother, 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1700;  left  for  America  only  in  1782; 
arrived  there  on  the  15th  of  July  together  with  the  Baron  de 
Viomenil,  who  was  returning  to  his  post,  and  with  the  Count 
de  Segur,  the  Prince  de  Broglie,  Count  Ricci  and  others,  who 
had  all  left  Rochefort  on  the  Aiglc  and  the  (Y/o//r,  under 
the  command  of  Latouche-Treville.  Alexandre  de  Lameth 
came  to  replace  his  brother  Charles  as  adjutant-general,  but 
he  did  no  lighting.  He  went  then  with  the  companions  of 
his  ocean  trip  into  Columbia,  commanded  as  adjutant-general 
the  attack  against  Jamaica,  and  was  made  colonel  on  his  re 
turn  to  France.  Appointed  deputy  to  the  States  General,  he 
distinguished  himself,  like  his  brother  Charles,  by  his  eloquent 


158  The  French  in  America. 

speeches  on  behalf  of  public  liberties.  He  respected,  how 
ever,  the  royal  prerogatives,  and  had  on  this  subject  frequent 
quarrels  with  Mirabeau.  In  1792  he  served  under  La  Fay- 
ette,  emigrated  with  him,  and  shared  his  captivity  in  Austria. 
Liberated  by  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  he  rejoined  his  broth 
ers  at  Hamburg.  He  was  employed  in  the  administration  of 
the  Empire  and  under  the  Restauration,  and  was  created  baron 
and  peer  of  France.  He  died  in  1829. 

LANDAIS  (Pierre  de),  of  a  noble  ruined  family  of  Nor 
mandy,  born  in  1734  at  Saint  Malo ;  died  in  1820  at  New 
York.  He  was  lieutenant  in  1763  in  the  French  navy,  but 
he  resigned  to  go  into  that  of  the  United  States,  with  the 
rank  of  captain,  in  1778.  In  January,  1779,  he  commanded 
the  Alliance  which  brought  back  La  Fayette  to  France.  His 
extravagant  conduct  and  the  clouding  of  his  mind  made  it 
necessary  for  him  to  resign ;  he  lived  afterwards  poor  and 
forgotten.231 

LANGEROK  (Andrault,  Count  de),  born  at  Paris  in  1763. 
Entered  as  sub-lieutenant  the  regiment  of  Bourbonnais  in 
1780;  left  on  the  Aigle  for  America,232  and  made  the  cam 
paign  under  the  orders  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil. 

Captain  of  Conti-Dragoons233  on  his  return  to  France,  colo 
nel  en  second  of  the  regiment  of  Medoc  in  1786,  colonel  of 
Arrnagnac  in  1788.  Emigrated  in  1790  and  entered  the  serv 
ice  in  Russia,  where  he  distinguished  himself  against  Sweden 
and  Turkey;  served  then  the  Princes  of  Nassau  and  Bruns 
wick  against  France  in  1792;  re-entered  the  service  in  Rus 
sia,  where  he  was  appointed,  in  1799,  lieutenant-general  and 
count  by  Paul  the  First;  was  at  the  defeat  of  Austerlitz 
under  Kutusoff,  and  afterwards  sought  cheaper  laurels  against 


231  See  in   the  List  of  Officers:  Paul  Jones,  note  215,  and  Pontgi- 
baud.     See  also  Cooper's  Naval  History. 

232  See  Mcmoires  of  de  Segur  and  de  Broglie. 
2:"  Cond6-Dragoons.    Marginal  note. 


List  of  Officers.  159 

the  Turks  in  Moldavia  and  Valachia.  Entered  France  with 
the  Allies  in  1814;  took  the  Buttes  Montmartre,  and  con 
tinued  to  serve  the  Russians.  Emperor  Nicholas  the  First 
covered  him  with  honors.  He  died  of  cholera,  at  Saint  Peters 
burg,  in  1831. 

LANGON  (Jean-Jacques),  born  in  1737  at  Aire  in  Guy- 
enne  ;  served  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais,  and  made  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  then  the  expedition  of  America,  as  captain-com 
mandant.  He  was  decorated  ai'tcr  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

LANNP:T  (Francois-Claude  de),234  born  in  November,  1738, 
at  La  Garde  in  Berry  ;  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  ; 
decorated  for  his  conduct  before  Yorktown. 

LA  PEYROUSE.     See  PEROUSE. 

LATOUR-FOLSSAC  (Philippe-Francois  de),  born  the  llth  of 
July,  1750;  entered  the  engineer  corps  and  served  as  captain 
in  the  American  War  ;  returned  witli  ideas  favorable  to  the 
Revolution;  served  in  17(.H  in  the  Army  of  the  North,  and 
was  present  at  the  siege  of  Namur  and  the  battle  of  Jem- 
mapes.  Appointed  general  in  1793  ;  then  arrested  as  a  sus 
pect,  he  was  freed  at  the  fall  of  Robespierre  and  employed 
in  Italy.  Intrusted  with  the  defense  of  Mantua,  he  was 
captured  by  the  Austrian*  with  his  annv  in  July,  1 7-)<->. 
This  surrender  excited  much  indignation  in  France.  After 
the  18th  Brumairc,  Bonaparte  degraded  him  from  his  rank, 
forbidding  him  to  wear  the  French  uniform.  lie  then  witli- 
drew  to  his  estate  near  Poissy,  where  he  died  in  February, 
1804. 

LAUBARDIERES  or  LAUBERDIERES.     See  DUPONT. 


z:MIn  the  List  of  llegiments  De  Lanet  appears  as  captain-command 
ant  of  Bourbonnais.     E.  S.  B. 


160  The  French  in  America. 

LAUMONT  (De).     See  LOMONT. 

LAUMOY  or  LOMOY  (De),  was  captain  in  the  royal  corps 
of  engineers,  when  he  was  chosen  by  Franklin  for  the  service 
of  Congress  in  the  position  of  engineer,  with  Du  Portail,  La 
Radiere  and  Gouvion.  He  arrived  in  America  on  the  same 
ship  as  La  Fayette,  became  major,  then  colonel,  during  the 
War  of  Independence.  It  was  with  this  rank  that  he  served 
at  Stono,  where  he  was  wounded  on  the  20th  of  June, 
1779.235  He  received  afterwards  in  France  a  position  of  lieu 
tenant-colonel  in  the  provincial  troops.236 

LAUNAY  (De)  or  DELAUNAY  (Jean-Baptiste-Kene-Clement), 
born  in  1739  at  Ratieville  in  Normandy.  He  enlisted  in  the 
regiment  of  Touraine  in  1757,  and  reached  the  rank  of  cap 
tain  in  July,  1769.  He  made  the  campaigns  of  Hanover, 
then  wrent  to  the  colonies,  where  he  obtained  in  succession,  a 
reward  after  the  capture  of  Saint  Christopher,  the  cross  of 
Military  Merit  after  the  battles  fought  by  Count  de  Guichen, 
and  a  pension  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

LAUZUX  (Armand-Louis  de  Gontaut-Biron,  Duke  de),  born 
at  Paris  in  1747  ;  was  long  known  only  under  the  name  of 
Lauzun,  and  only  took  the  title  of  Duke  de  Biron  after  the 
death  of  his  uncle  in  1788.  He  served  in  the  French  guards, 
as  early  as  1761.  In  1767  he  made  the  expedition  of  Corsica 
as  aid-de-camp  of  de  Chauvelin,  and  on  coming  to  announce 
the  success  of  the  French  on  June  29th,  1769,  he  was  made 
chevalier  of  Saint-Louis.  After  being  intrusted  with  various 
missions,  which  he  pretends  in  his  Memoircs  only  to  look  upon 
as  the  occasion  for  various  love  affairs,  he  was  sent,  in  1779, 


235  Ramsey. 

236 October  8th,  1783.    Congress  gives  "leave  to  retire"  to  Brigadier- 
General  de  Laurnoy,  Du  Portail  and  Gouvion.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  161 

with  some  .ships  under  the  command  of  de  Vaudreuil,  to  Sen 
egal,  and  captured  this  budding  colony  from  the  English,  who, 
however,  recaptured  it  directly  after  his  departure  during  the 
same  year.  He  received  on  his  return  to  Paris  the  title  of  col 
onel  of  hussars,  and  became  proprietary  colonel  of  a  foreign 
regiment  which  was  to  bear  his  name.  This  legion  was  to 
consist  of  eighteen  hundred  infantry  and  six  hundred  cavalry, 
who  were  not  to  be  separated.  In  reality,  it  never  had  more 
than  eight  hundred  infantry  and  four  hundred  cavalry,  almost 
all  Germans.  Custine  served  with  or  under  the  orders  of 
Lau/un.  Four  hundred  men  of  this  reduced  legion  were 
kept  at  Brest  during  the  expedition  of  America  and  sent  to 
Senegal,  contrary  to  the  agreements  and  to  the  great  displeas 
ure  of  Lau/un. 

Appointed  brigadier  the  1st  of  March,  1780,  Lau/un  em 
barked  at  Brest  on  the  12th  of  April.  Contrary  winds  held 
him  back  until  the  12th  of  May,  on  the  Provence  of  seventv- 
four  guns,  commanded  by  de  Champaurein.  He  arrived  with 
his  two  regiments  of  hussars,  his  grenadiers  and  his  chasseurs 
on  the  loth  of  July  at  Newport,  and  took  up  his  winter 
quarters  at  Lebanon.  During  the  march  between  Providence 
and  the  Hudson  River,  Lauzun  protected  the  right  of  the 
army  with  his  cavalry.  He  also  supported  brilliantly,  before 
New  York,  on  the  3d  of  July,  17<S1,  a  reconnoitering  party 
of  General  Lincoln. 

At  Elk,  the  infantry  of  his  legion,  with  all  the  grenadiers 
and  the  (.'Jxisxeurx  of  the  army,  were  embarked  on  all  sorts 
of  boats  and  put  under  the  direction  of  Custine.  They  hoped 
thus  to  bring  help  sooner  to  La  Favctte.  Custine,  in  iact, 
soon  arrived  alone  at  the  mouth  of  the  James  Kiver.  But 
Lau/un,  with  the  troops  and  General  Lincoln,  who  were  fol 
lowing  on  other  boats,  had  to  stop  at  Annapolis  to  await 
news  of  de  Grasse.  The  presence  of  an  English  fleet  had 
been  signaled,  and  it  was  neccssarv  to  wait  until  de  Grasse 
had  driven  it  olf  or  dispersed  it,  which  took  place  two  days 


162  The  French  in  America. 

later,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1781,  after  a  combat  glorious 
for  the  French  and  decisive  for  the  success  of  the  campaign. 
Lauzun  had  only  just  arrived,  with  neither  artillery,  men  nor 
powder,  when  he  was  charged  with  the  blockade  of  Gloucester, 
already  begun  in  a  scarcely  serious  way  by  General  Weedon 
and  his  three  thousand  American  troops.  Lauzun,  having 
asked  the  General-in-Chief  for  what  was  indispensable,  took 
his  place  under  the  orders  of  de  Choisy,  who  arrived  with 
the  artillery  and  eight  hundred  men  taken  from  the  ships. 

Lauzun  had  immediately,  and  first  of  all  the  army,  the 
chance  to  show  his  brilliant  courage.  He  beat  back,  with 
French  impetuosity,  the  cavalry  of  Tarleton,  three  times  as 
numerous  as  his  own,  and  forced  it  to  retire  precipitately 
into  Gloucester.  This  fight  brought  him  the  honor  of  going 
to  Paris  to  bear  the  news  of  the  capitulation  of  Yorktown 
with  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts,  who  had  directed  the  attack 
on  the  great  redoubt.  They  left  on  the  Surveillante  on  the 
24th  of  October,  and  after  a  twenty-two  days'  passage  they 
reached  Brest.237  As  de  Maurepas,  Lauzun's  protector,  had 
just  died,  Lauzun's  regiment  received  scarcely  any  rewards. 

Lauzun  started  again  from  Brest,  on  the  12th  of  May, 
1782,  with  de  Coigny,  then  from  La  Rochelle,  on  the  14th 
of  July,  with  de  Segur  and  de  Broglie.238  He  stopped  at 
Terceyre  and  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware,  whence  he 
rejoined  the  army  with  his  numerous  traveling  companions. 
Finally  Rochanibeau,  on  his  departure,  left  the  command  with 
de  Lauzun,  who  received  the  order  to  sail  for  France  on  the 
llth  of  March,  1783,  at  Wilmington. 


2;!T  De  Lauzun  returned  to  Brest  on  the  Surveillante,  Captain  de  Cillart ; 
there  were  with  him  Duplessis-Pascaut,  captain  of  the  Intr&pide,  which 
had  been  burnt  in  the  harbor  of  the  Cape,  and  who  was  carrying  dis 
patches  from  Count  de  Grasse ;  Lord  Rawdon,  his  wife,  the  brother  of 
Lord  Cornwallis,  and  a  major  of  the  English  army,  captured  during  the 
siege.  The  last  two  went  immediately  to  England.  Lord  Eawdon  spoke 
highly,  in  a  letter,  of  the  courtesy  de  Lauzun  showed  to  him. 

238  See  Mcmoires  of  de  Segur  and  de  Broglie. 


List  of  Officers.  163 

On  his  return  he  accompanied  Talleyrand  in  his  embassy 
to  England,  and  became  friends  with  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
afterwards  George  the  Fourth.  Elected  deputy  to  the  States 
General  in  1789,  he  entered  the  party  of  the  Duke  d'Orleans ; 
then,  accepting  the  ideas  of  the  Revolution,  he  served  the 
Republic  as  general,  was  ordered  to  crush  the  insurrection 
in  the  Vendee,  and  commanded  in  succession  the  Armies  of 
the  Rhine,  of  Italy,  and  of  the  coasts  of  La  Rochelle.  Becom 
ing  suspected,  he  was  called  before  the  revolutionary  tribunal, 
condemned  to  death,  and  executed  on  the  31st  of  December, 
1793,  witli  the  two  Dillons,  who  had  served  with  him  in 
America. 

Besides  the  Mbnioirex  left  by  de  Ijauzun,239  there  are  Lcttr<*-^ 
written  by  him  while  he  was  member  of  the  States  General. 

He  was  courageous,  handsome,  and  well  educated  for  the 
time  when  he  lived.  He  conciliated  the  friendship  of  the 
Americans  by  his  bravery  and  his  good  looks.  But  he  had 
the  fault  of  allowing  himself  to  be  carried  away  by  the 
easy,  loose  morals  of  the  time.  His  wife,  Anne  de  Boufflers, 
was  guillotined  on  the  27th  of  June,  1794. 

LAVAL  (Anne- Alexandre  -  Marie -Sul pice-  Joseph,  Marquis 
de),  born  at  Paris  the  22d  of  January,  1747.  Entered  the 
musketeers  in  1702;  captain  of  the  regiment  of  cavalry  of 
Berry  in  1705;  colonel  of  Touraine  in  17~v),  and  of  Bour- 
bonnais  in  177'");  made  the  campaign  of  1709  in  CWsica  as 
quartermaster.  He  started  ior  America  with  his  regiment 
under  the  orders  of  de  Rochambeau,  and  took  part  imme 
diately  in  the  expedition  to  Chesapeake  Bay  which  Destouches 
commanded.  There  were  on  the  ships  twelve  hundred  men, 
commanded  by  the  Baron  de  Viomenil,  with  de  Laval  second 
in  command.  He  wa.s  present  thus  at  two  naval  battles.  In 


OT  Vol.  I.,  page  17. 

"'Printed  by  Bachelin-Deflorenne,  Paris. 


164  The  French  in  America. 

the  last,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1781,  he  remained  alone  on 
the  rear  poop  deck  of  the  Conquerant  with  his  major,  the 
enemy  having  killed  or  wounded  every  one  else.  This  at 
tempt  was  glorious,  but  useless,  since  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  putting  troops  ashore  in  Virginia,  and  they  could  not  even 
enter  Chesapeake  Bay.  He  distinguished  himself  also  before 
Yorktown,  and  left  on  the  26th  of  October,  1781,  with  de 
Damas,  Christian  de  Deux-Ponts  and  Charlus,  on  the  Andro- 
maque,  to  carry  the  news  of  the  surrender.  Lauzun  had  pre 
ceded  them.  De  Laval  returned  on  the  Gloire?*1  with  the 
rank  of  brigadier  mestre  de  camp  of  Bourbonnais,  and  brought 
back  the  troops  from  Will iarnsburg  to  Boston  with  de  Viome"nil, 
Lauzun  and  Custine.  "  Laval  and  Custine,"  says  La  Fayette, 
"  never  stopped  quarreling  during  the  march.  At  every  place 
where  a  battle  had  been  fought  they  said  that  the  English 
and  American  generals  had  bungled  the  matter,  and  that  they 
would  have  done  it  better.  Still,  they  were  never  of  the  same 
opinion." 

Laval  then  went  to  Columbia,  at  Porto  Cabello,  and  re 
turned  to  France  in  1783. 

LAVAL  (Montmorency-Mathieu-Paul-Louis,  Viscount,  then 
Duke  de),  born  at  Paris  in  1748,  died  there  in  1817.  Son 
of  the  Marshal  de  Montmorency.  Very  severe  about  dis 
cipline. 

LAVAL-MONTMOKENCY  (Mathieu-Jean-Felicite),  son  of  the 
former ;  served  under  his  father's  orders  in  America,  and 
was  wounded  in  1781  on  the  squadron  of  Destouches,  in 
Chesapeake  Bay.  He  was  minister  of  foreign  affairs  in  1821, 
and  died  in  1826,  at  fifty-nine  years  of  age. 

LAZIE,  major  of  artillery.242 

241  See  de  Broglie. 

242  Blanchard. 


List  of  Officers.  165 

LEAUMONT  (Marie-Robert  de  Castile,  Chevalier  de),  born 
in  1762  on  the  Island  of  Saint  Domingo;  was  at  the  siege 
of  Yorktown  as  sub-lieutenant  of  Agenois,  and  was  wounded 
by  a  bayonet  thrust  in  the  chest  during  the  night  of  the 
loth  to  the  16th  of  October,  1781,  in  a  sortie  of  the  English 
on  the  battery  on  the  right  of  the  besiegers.  He  received  a 
pension  from  the  king.  He  must  not  be  mistaken  for  Gillet 
de  Lomont.243 

LE  BRET  (Jean-Fran9ois),  born  in  1742  at  Belusson  in 
Normandy.  Captain  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais ;  had 
made  the  Seven  Years'  War  and  the  campaign  of  Corsica  of 
170S.  AVent  with  his  regiment  to  America,  and  was  deco 
rated  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

LECOMTE  (Joseph),  born  the  3d  of  January,  1743,  at  Beau- 
four  in  Calvados.  Private  in  the  regiment  of  Armagnac  the 
14th  of  January,  1772,  corporal  in  1778,  sergeant  in  1780, 
sub-lieutenant  in  1792,  lieutenant  in  1793.  Commissary  of 
war  in  the  Army  of  the  Coast  of  Cherbourg  ;  died  at  the 
siege  of  Thionville  the  5th  of  January,  179."). 

He  made  the  campaigns  of  1778  to  1783  in  America,  and 
received  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis  the  17th  of  June,  1792. 
He  was  the  grandfather  of  General  Leeointe,  who  was  shot 
by  the  Communists  on  the  ISth  of  March,  1871,  at  Mont- 
martre.244 

LE  FEVRE,  servant  of  Colonel  Armand  de  la  Kouerie,  who 
followed  his  master  to  America,  and  went  with  him  when  he 
was  presented  to  Congress.  "  He  was  a  very  handsome  and 
a  very  brave  man.  They  were  going  to  give  him,  for  his 
good  looks,  a  brevet  of  colonel,  a,s  they  did  to  his  master, 

243 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Lomont. 
244  Manuscript  loaned  by  M.  La  Chesnais. 


166  The  French  in  America. 

when  he  refused  it,  calling   attention  to  the    error  they  were 
making  about  his  merit  and  his  social  position.245 

LE  FEVRE.     See  FALTJER. 

LEHOUX  (Michel),  born  in  1736.  Lieutenant  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Agenois;  went  to  the  colonies  in  1775,  and  took 
part  in  the  siege  of  Yorktown  in  1781. 

LENFANT  (Pierre- Charles),  born  in  France  in  1755.  Was 
lieutenant  in  the  troops  of  the  colonies,  when,  in  1777,  he 
entered  as  engineer  the  American  army,  in  which  he  was  ap 
pointed  captain  the  8th  of  February,  1778.  He  was  wounded 
at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  Octo 
ber,  1779,  and  was  left  for  dead  on  the  field.  He  served 
afterwards  under  the  immediate  orders  of  Washington,  and 
was  appointed  major  the  2d  of  May,  1783.  He  was  known 
as  Major  Lenfant.  He  lost  his  fortune  during  the  War  of 
Independence,  and  received  at  the  peace  a  pension  of  three 
hundred  livres  and  the  rank  of  captain. 

Not  only  did  Major  Lenfant  receive  the  order  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,  but  he  was  intrusted  with  having  the  medals  of  the 
order  struck  in  Paris,  which  he  did  to  the  complete  satisfac 
tion  of  the  Council,  who  thanked  him.  He  was  still  in  Paris 
in  1786.246 

He  was  employed  as  engineer  at  Fort  Mifflin  in  1794,  and 
refused  the  position  of  professor  of  the  department  of  engin 
eering  at  West  Point  in  July,  1812.  He  was  the  designer 
of  the  plan  of  the  city  of  Washington  and  architect  of  several 
important  buildings  of  that  city.  He  died  in  Prince  George 
County,  Maryland,  the  14th  of  June,  1825. 

245  Pontgibaud. 

246  See  Proceedings  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  VI., 
1858. 


List  of  Officers.  167 

LEONARD Y  (Charles-Joseph  de),  born  in  1758;  cadet  gcn- 
tilhomme  in  1777  ;  sub-lieutenant  of  the  chasseurs  of  Agenois 
in  1779.  Distinguished  himself  at  York  town. 

LESPES  (Jean-Joseph  de),  born  in  1731  at  Meugron,  near 
Sartres,  in  Gascony.  Captain  of  the  regiment  of  Agenois 
in  1774;  decorated  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown,  and  died 
on  the  17th  of  March,  1782,  from  wounds  received  at  the 
siege  of  Saint  Christopher. 

LESTRADE.     Sec  ESTRADE. 

LEVAL  (Jean-Fran9ois),  born  in  1761  at  Paris;  died  in 
1834.  Son  of  a  goldsmith,  he  enlisted  in  1779  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Poitou ;  made  the  campaigns  from  1781  to  1783  as 
private  on  a  war  vessel;  took,  in  1793,  the  command  of  the 
regiment  of  lloyal-Deux-Ponts ;  made  the  wars  of  the  Ke- 
public  under  Hoche  and  Jourdan  as  brigadier-general.  He 
then  became  general  of  division  in  Spain.  He  was  retired 
after  1816. 

LEVALIER  DE  SAiNTE-MARiE.247  Captain  the  9th  of  Octo 
ber,  1779,  in  the  first  regiment  of  South  Carolina.  My  in 
formation  is  not  exact  enough  to  say  whether  he  was  a  French 
volunteer  or  descended  from  a  family  of  Protestant  refugees.248 

LEVERT  DE  GEXVILLE.  See  GENVILLE.  Mentioned  in 
manuscripts  and  books  by  both  names. 

L'HERMITE-MAILLANE  (Jean-Marthe-Adrien),  born  at  Cou- 
tances  in  1766.  He  entered  the  navy  at  the  age  of  fourteen 


247  Manuscript  belonging  to  Mr.  H.  Carey  Baird,  brought  to  my  notice 
by  Mr.  J.  C.  .Sims. 

248  Vol.  1.,  page  36. 


168  The  French  in  America. 

as  volunteer,  and  embarked  at  Brest  in  1780,  on  the  Nor 
thumberland,  of  the  squadron  of  de  Grasse.  He  was  present 
at  the  principal  actions  fought  with  Admirals  Hood,  Graves, 
and  Rodney,  as  well  as  at  the  capture  of  Saint  Christopher. 
He  entered  the  merchant  navy  in  1793 ;  was  appointed 
naval  lieutenant ;  captain  the  same  year  of  an  English  frigate 
he  had  captured.  Made  prisoner  by  the  English,  he  was  ex 
changed  in  1801.  Rear-admiral  in  1807,  and  baron  of  the 
Empire  a  few  months  later.  He  was  retired  in  1816,  and 
died  near  Paris  in  1826. 

LIGLIORN  or  LILIEHORX  (De),  aid-de-camp  of  the  King 
of  Sweden ;  mentioned  by  de  Broglie  and  de  Se"gur,  in  their 
memoirs,  as  one  of  the  passengers  on  the  Gloire,  which  took 
them  back  to  America  in  1782. 

LITOMSKY  (Charles),  friend  and  companion  of  Pulaski ; 
lieutenant  in  his  legion  at  Savannah.  When  his  commander 
was  killed,  he  took  the  body  and  buried  it  at  the  foot  of  a 
tree  on  the  Island  of  Saint  Helena. 

LOGE  (De  la).  "The  6th  of  October,  1781,  before  York- 
town,  the  regiment  of  Touraine  opened  the  trench  on  the  right ; 
seven  grenadiers  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  de  la  Loge, 
officer  of  artillery,  had  a  thigh  carried  away  in  his  battery 
and  died  from  the  effects.  The  trench  on  the  right  was 
opened  more  quietly."249 

LOMENIE  (Athanase-Louis-Marie,  Count  de  Brienne  de), 
born  in  1730.  Officer  passenger  on  the  Gloirc,  in  1782, 
with  de  Segur,  de  Broglie  and  others.  Became  lieutenant- 
general  and  was  minister  of  war  from  1787  to  1788.  He 
was  guillotined  under  the  Terror. 

249Cromot  Dubourg. 


List  of  Officers.  169 

LOMONT  (Fran9ois-Pierre-Nicholas  Gillet  de),  born  the  26th 
of  May,  1747;  died  in  1834.  Son  of  a  lawyer,  he  followed 
at  first  the  career  of  his  father,  and  was,  in  1768,  lawyer  at 
the  parleinent  of  Paris.  After  the  exiling  of  that  court  he 
entered  the  Military  School  in  1772,  joined  the  royal  grena 
diers,  and  reached  in  less  than  five  years  the  rank  of  com 
mandant.  He  entered  the  service  in  the  troops  of  Congress 
on  the  10th  of  June,  1776,  through  the  intervention  of  Bar- 
bier  Pubourg,  who  says  in  his  memoirs :  "  He  is  a  young 
man  of  rare  merit,  to  whom  nothing  is  wanting  except  to 
have  served  in  war." 

Having  returned  to  France  in  1784,  he  abandoned  the 
military  career  and  studied  mineralogy.  He  was  appointed 
inspector-general  of  the  mines  of  Brittany  and  of  the  Pyr 
enees,  and  discovered,  in  Finistere,  the  green  phosphated  lead 
and  the  fine  leolite,  which  Haiiy  called  "  Lauronite."  He 
studied  the  deposits  of  coal  in  France,  helped  in  the  or 
ganizing  of  the  School  of  Mines,  and  was  member  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  in  1816.  A  fine  character  and  a  la 
borious  Mtrdiit,  to  whom  France  owes  much.2-30 

LOMOY.     See  LA r MOV. 

LONDEIX  DE  LA  BuossE,  born  in  17<>1  ;  lieutenant  of  the 
regiment  of  Armagnac  in  1779;  wounded  in  the  face  in  the 
battle  of  the  12th  of  April,  17S2,  fought  by  do  Grasse. 

LONGUEVILLE  (Jean-Joachim,  Chevalier  de),  born  in  1762; 
appointed  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  in 
1779  ;  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  but  doubtless 
slightly,  for  Cromot  Dubourg,  in  his  very  detailed  list  of  the 
killed  and  wounded,  does  not  mention  him,  nor  any  officer 
of  the  regiment  of  Saintonge. 

260  Sec  in  the  List  of  Officers :  Lcaumont. 


170  The  French  in  America. 

LOSSE  DE  BAY  AC  (Charles-  Joseph),  born  in  1742  at  Fim- 
eray  in  Perigord ;  captain  of  Bourbonnais  in  1771;  was 
at  the  battle  of  the  Jason,  under  Destouches,  the  16th  of 
March,  1780,  and  was  decorated  after  the  capture  of  York- 
town. 

LOYAUTE  (Anne-Philippe-Dieudonne  de),  born  at  Metz  in 
1756,  died  in  1830.  He  served  under  his  father  in  the  ar 
tillery  in  Germany  and  Corsica  ;  captain  in  1776.  He  was 
sent  with  fifty  cannons  and  ten  thousand  muskets  to  Virginia ; 
stayed  in  America,  and  served  during  the  War  of  Independence 
as  inspector-general  of  artillery  and  of  fortifications  in  Vir 
ginia.  He  was  appointed  lieutenant-colonel,  and  served  under 
Steuben  before  Yorktown.  He  showed  himself  a  partisan  of 
royalty  during  the  French  Revolution;  was  arrested,  then 
exiled.  He  remained,  in  spite  of  this,  in  obscurity  under  the 
Restauration. 

LOWENDAL  (De),  son  of  the  marshal  of  France  of  that 
name ;  commanded  the  centre  of  the  attacking  corps  at  Saint 
Lucia,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1778,  with  d'Estaing  on  the 
right  and  de  Bouille  on  the  left. 

LUCAS  (Jean-Jacques-£tienne),  naval  captain,  commander 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis;  born  at 
Marennes  in  1764,  died  at  Brest  in  1819. 

He  enlisted  at  the  age  of  fourteen  in  the  navy.  In  1779 
he  went  as  under  assistant  pilot  on  the  Hermione,  which 
Latouche-Treville  commanded.  This  vessel  joined,  in  1780, 
the  naval  army  of  Count  de  Guichen,  and  Lucas  was  present 
at  all  the  principal  battles  of  this  campaign  in  which  the 
Hermione  took  part.  He  was  grievously  wounded  in  the  arm 
in  one  of  them.  Assistant  pilot  in  1783,  pilot  in  1791, 
ensign  in  1792,  naval  lieutenant  in  1794,  captain  of  frigate 


List  of  Officers.  171 

in  1799,  naval  captain  in  1803.  He  distinguished  himself 
on  the  Redoutable  at  Trafalgar,  and  was  wounded  there  and 
made  prisoner.  Liberated  on  parole,  he  was  able  to  return 
to  France,  where  Napoleon  appointed  him  commander  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  The  fall  of  the  Empire  prevented  him 
from  obtaining  the  rank  of  rear-admiral,  which  his  bravery 
entitled  him  to. 

LUSTRAC  (Jean-Joseph  de),  born  in  1733  at  Aire  in  Gas- 
cony;  entered  the  service  in  1756;  made  the  campaigns  of 
Germany  ;  was  appointed  captain-commandant  of  Agenois  in 
1760,  after  having  been  severely  wounded  before  Minister. 

It  is  he,  I  think,  whose  name  I  find  in  the  manuscripts 
as  having  been  at  the  siege  of  Savannah. 

LUTZON  (Guillaume-Frederic-Bernard  de),  born  in  1758  ; 
entered  the  service  in  1775  as  sub-lieutenant  of  Royal-Deux- 
Ponts  ;  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown  at  the  attack 
of  the  great  redoubt. 

LrzERXK  (Anne-Cesar,  Chevalier  de  la),  descended  from  an 
old  family  of  Normandy,  and  nephew  of  Malesherbes  on  his 
mother's  side,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1741,  and  studied  at  the 
School  of  the  Light  Horse.  He  was  aid-de-camp  of  the  Duke 
de  Broglie,  his  relation,  made  several  campaigns  with  him,  and 
became,  in  1702,  major-general  of  cavalry,  then  colonel  of 
grenadiers.  He  abandoned  afterwards  the  military  career,  and 
was  sent,  in  1776,  on  a  mission  to  the  Court  of  the  Elector  of 
Bavaria,  Maximilien-Joseph,  and  was  appointed  minister  to 
the  United  States  in  1779,  in  place  of  M.  Gerard.  He  was 
not  long  in  acquiring  a  great  influence  in  the  direction  of 
affairs  in  this  country.  For  instance,  in  1780,  he  arranged,  on 
his  own  responsibility,  a  loan  which  was  to  help  the  Ameri 
can  troops.  All  the  memoirs  of  his  time  speak  highly  of  his 


172  The  French  in  America. 

merit  and  his  pleasant  manners.251  On  his  departure,  in 
1783,  he  received  the  most  honorable  tokens  of  esteem  from 
the  Americans.  At  a  reception  which  was  given  to  de  la 
Luzerne  the  Quaker  Benezet  said  to  him :  "  Thou  knowest 
I  cannot  use  the  compliments  which  the  company  have  ex 
pressed,  but  I  wish  thee  the  favor  of  heaven  and  a  safe  re 
turn  to  thy  country."  The  count  exclaimed :  "  Oh,  Mr. 
Benezet,  you  have  exceeded  them  all."  The  citizens  of  Penn 
sylvania,  as  a  mark  of  gratitude,  called  one  of  the  counties  of 
the  State  after  him.  In  January,  1788,  he  was  appointed 
ambassador  at  London,  and  he  stayed  in  that  city  until  his 
death  there  in  1791. 

LYNCH  or  LINCH  (Isidore),  born  at  London  in  1755,  of 
Catholic  parents,  who  sent  him  as  a  boy  to  France.  He  was 
studying  in  Paris  when  he  was  taken  to  India  by  one  of  his 
uncles  on  his  mother's  side,  colonel  in  a  French  regiment. 
Lynch  received,  in  1770,  the  position  of  lieutenant  in  the 
regiment  of  Dillon.  He  distinguished  himself  under  d'Es- 
taing  at  the  capture  of  Grenada  and  at  Savannah,  where  he 
showed  extraordinary  coolness252  in  carrying  an  order  through 
the  cross  fire  of  the  combatants.  He  rejoined  the  army  of 
Rochambeau,  was  aid-de-camp  of  Chastellux,  was  present  at 
the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  went  to  Porto  Cabello  with  de 
Segur.  He  was  nearly  captured  and  shot  by  Nelson,  the  future 
admiral,  in  sight  of  the  port  of  La  Guayra,  and  owed  his  life 
to  the  generosity  of  the  young  English  captain.253  He  re 
turned  afterwards  to  Paris,  where  he  was  appointed  colonel.254 
Marechal  de  camp  in  February,  1792,  shortly  afterwards  lieu 
tenant-general.  He  took  part  in  the  successful  battle  of 
Valmy.  Arrested  in  1793  at  Dijon,  then  freed,  he  preferred 

251  See  Vol.  I.,  page  233. 

262  Mcmoires  of  de  Segur,  page  460. 

263  Memoires  of  de  Segur. 

254  Walsh.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  173 

to  resign  rather  than  to  go  to  fight  in  Vendee.  He  was 
division  inspector  under  the  Empire ;  was  retired  in  1815, 
and  died  in  1838.255 

M. 

MACARTHY,    officer    in    the   regiment   of  Walsh,   and   lieu 
tenant  of  volunteers  on  the  lionhomme  Richard. 


MACDERMOTT  (Thomas),  born  in  1742  ;  entered  the  service 
in  the  Irish  regiment  of  Dillon  in  1750  ;  made  the  campaigns 
of  the  Seven  Years'  AVar  and  those  of  the  Windward  Islands  ; 
was  present  at  the  capture  of  Grenada,  at  the  naval  battle  oil' 
Saint  Lucia,  and  at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  where,  although  he 
was  only  captain  en  second,  d'Estaing  put  him  in  command  of 
a  picket  of  sixty  volunteers  in  the  action  of  the  (Jth  of  Octo 
ber,  1779. 

MAC-MAHOX  (Charles-Laure,  Marquis  do),  descended  from 
a  noble  Irish  family  who  ruined  itself  for  the  cause  of  the 
Stuarts,  and  who  followed  them  to  France.  He  was  officer 
of  artillery  on  the  Aiyfe,  in  1782,  with  de  Broglie  and  de 
Segur.256  When  this  frigate  had  stranded  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Delaware,  and  after  the  money  had  been  saved,  he  escaped  on 
a  boat  with  the  eighteen  men  of  the  crew  who  remained,  in 
spite  of  the  steady  fire  of  the  English,  who  were  three  times 
as  numerous.  He  became  the  intimate  friend  of  Charles  the 
Tenth,  formerly  Count  d'Artois,  was  made  imiru-hul  de  m//,y> 
in  1814  and  peer  of  France  in  1827.  He  married  Mademoi 
selle  de  Caraman,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  and  four  daugh 
ters.  Marshal  Mac-Mahon,  Duke  de  Magenta,  was  the  last 
survivor  of  this  numerous  familv. 


Manuscript  of  Dupetit-Thouars. 
tiouvcnirs  of  de  Segur. 


174  Tlie  French  in  America. 

MAGON  (Charles-Rene),  rear-admiral,  born  at  Paris  in  1763  ; 
candidate  for  the  navy  in  1777,  at  the  age  of  fourteen;  guard 
in  the  marines  the  following  year  on  the  Brdagne,  which 
d'Orvilliers  commanded,  was  present  at  the  action  of  Oues- 
sant;  ensign,  in  1780,  on  the  Solitaire,  which  took  part  in  all 
the  battles  of  de  Guichen.  The  following  year  he  was  pres 
ent,  on  the  Caton,  in  the  fleet  of  the  Count  de  Grasse,  at  the 
actions  of  the  28th  and  29th  of  April,  and  of  the  5th  of  Sep 
tember,  1781.  The  Caton,  having  been  captured  by  the  Eng 
lish  on  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  Magon  was  kept  as  prisoner 
in  England  until  the  peace. 

Naval  lieutenant  in  1786,  captain  of  frigate  in  1791,  na 
val  captain  in  1796,  chief  of  squadron  in  1799,  rear-admiral 
in  1802 ;  killed  at  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  the  21st  of  October, 
1805. 

MAGUSIS,  entered  the  service  as  private  in  1742,  in  the 
regiment  of  Soissonnais  ;  went  through  every  grade,  and  was 
made  officer  in  1763.  He  was  present  at  the  siege  of  York- 
town,  in  spite  of  the  numerous  wounds  he  had  received  in 
preceding  wars. 

MALLEVILLE  (De),  officer  of  infantry  ;  wounded  at  Saint 
Lucia,  under  de  Guichen,  the  19th  of  May,  1780. 

MALMADY  (Marquis  de),  volunteer ;  breveted  major  by 
Congress  the  19th  of  September,  1776.257 

MALOUIN,  commander  of  the  Alliance  after  Landais  re 
signed. 

MARCOGNET,  sub-lieutenant  of  Bourbonnais  ;  became  gen 
eral  under  the  Convention. 

267  Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  175 

MARCOU,  grenadier  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge ;  made 
the  entire  campaign.  He  was  wounded  on  the  Zelee  while 
boarding  the  Romulus,  and  received  some  of  the  prize  money. 

MARGUERITE.     See  DOLOMIEU. 

MARIGXY  (Charles-Rene-Louis,  Viscount  de  Bernard  de), 
vice-admiral,  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis ;  born  at  Seez,  Orne, 
in  1740.  His  parents  intended  him  to  enter  the  church,  but 
he  ran  away  from  them  at  the  age  of  fourteen  and  went  to 
his  brother,  who  was  guard  in  the  marines  at  Rochefort, 
and  embarked.  He  entered  the  marines  as  guard  in  1754; 
ensign  in  1757;  captain  in  1778,  after  the  action  of  Oues- 
sant.  He  obtained  the  command  of  the  ship  the  Ardent, 
which  he  had  captured  in  1770,  and  which  formed  part  of 
the  squadron  which  sailed  from  Brest,  under  command  of  de 
Ternay,  with  the  expeditionary  corps.  He  distinguished  him 
self  at  the  naval  battle  of  the  16th  of  March,  1781,  fought 
by  Destouches  at  the  entrance  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  Anlcnl 
had  fifty-four  men  killed  and  many  wounded.  On  the  '25th 
and  2(>th  of  January  of  the  following  year  he  took  part  in 
the  combat  of  Saint  Christopher  and  in  the  capture  of  that 
island.  Ordered  to  France  by  de  Grasse  to  inform  the  (iov- 
ernment  of  the  operations,  de  Marigny  embarked  on  the  A'uj- 
rctte,  and  was  not  present  at  the  action  of  the  12th  of  April, 
1782,  where  his  brother,  the  Count  de  Marigny,  was  blown 
up  with  his  ship,  the  rvw/r.  In  1783  he  became  Viscount, 
and  commanded  the  Victoirc.  Rear-admiral  in  1792,  he  op 
posed  the  excesses  of  the  Revolution,  and  resigned.  Arrested, 
he  owed  his  safety  only  to  the  fall  of  Robespierre.  Did  not 
serve  under  the  Empire,  but  was  made  vice-admiral  in  1S14 
by  Louis  the  Eighteenth,  and  died  in  1816. 

MA  KIN  (Jean-Baptiste,  Chevalier  de),  born  at  Tarascon. 
He  entered  the  service  in  1757  ;  was  captain-commandant  of 


176  The  French  in  America. 

Soissonnais  in  April,    1762  ;    received   two    severe   wounds  at 
the  capture  of  Yorktown,  and  died  from  the  effects. 

MASCARON  (Philippe-Louis-Beau),  born  in  January,  1744, 
at  Vauvert,  Languedoc.  He  entered  the  regiment  of  Gatinais 
as  sub-lieutenant  in  1767;  was  captain  in  1779,  and  made 
with  this  rank  the  campaign  of  America. 


258 


MAUDUIT  DU  PLESSIS  (Thomas- Antoine,  Chevalier  de),  born 
the  12th  of  September,  1753,  at  Hennebont;  massacred  at 
Port-au-Prince  the  4th  of  March,  1791.  He  was  scarcely 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  had  just  entered  the  artillery  school 
at  Grenoble,  when  he  ran  away  with  two  of  his  comrades  to 
travel.  They  went  on  foot  to  Marseilles,  and  engaged  as  cabin 
boys.  They  visited  Greece,  the  East,  and  Alexandria,  where, 
attacked  by  fever,  they  went  into  a  hospital,  having  no  money. 
The  two  companions  of  Mauduit  died.  The  latter,  being  left 
alone,  went  to  Constantinople,  and  was  sent  home  by  the 
French  ambassador.  His  family  received  him  very  well. 
He  studied  for  the  artillery,  and  left  in  1777  for  America. 

He  distinguished  himself  on  the  4th  of  October,  1777,  at 
the  battle  of  Germantown,  where  he  attacked  with  twenty- 
eight  men  a  "  white  house/7  which  was  the  key  of  the  English 
position.  He  escaped  scot  free  from  this  reckless  attempt.  All 
his  soldiers  were  killed,  and  his  friend,  Colonel  Laurens,  who 


258MASSON,  born  about  1756;  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven;  came 
to  America  as  a  volunteer,  and  served  during  the  entire  war.  He  was 
for  some  time  under  the  orders  of  La  Fayette.  He  wras  present  at  the 
battle  of  Saratoga  and  at  the  sieges  of  Savannah  and  Yorktown.  "  The 
troops  suffered  greatly  at  times  from  exposure  to  the  weather,  from 
the  want  of  shelter  and  provisions,  and  from  the  fatiguing  marches  in 
thick  forests  and  desert  plains." 

Information  received  from  his  grandson,  M.  Masson,  librarian  at 
Laon,  France.  E.  S.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  177 

had  followed  him,  received  a  wound  in  the  shoulder.  They 
had  both  advanced  to  this  stone  fortress  and  tried  to  enter 
it,  Laurens  by  the  door  and  Maud  nit  by  the  window,  and 
when  they  saw  that  they  were  the  only  survivors,  and  that 
they  could  accomplish  nothing,  they  retired  quietly  among  a 
shower  of  bullets. 

The  22d  of  October  following,  de  Mauduit  was  at  Red 
Bank  at  the  head  of  three  hundred  men,  when  he  was  at 
tacked  bv  a  corps  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  Hessians, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Donop.  Xot  only  did  he  refuse  to 
surrender  unconditionally,  as  he  was  ordered,  with  the  threat 
of  receiving  no  quarter  if  he  resisted,  but  he  repulsed  the 
assault  so  vigorously  that  the  Hessians  lost  a  great  many 
men.  Among  the  dying  was  found  Colonel  Dnnop.  De 
Mauduit  treated  him  with  all  the  respect  due  to  ill-fortuned 
bmvery,  and  Donop  died  in  his  arms  next  day.  The  colonel 
showed  him  much  gratitude  and  esteem. 

De  Mauduit  commanded  the  right  wing  of  the  artillery  at 
Monmouth,  where  the  English  lost  so  many  men  through 
cannon  fire.  His  character  was  as  original  as  his  valor  was 
brilliant.  It  was  on  account  of  a  bet  of  an  <ri/,-'~';'  about  the 
real  position  of  the  Athenians  and  the  Persians  at  the  battle 
of  Plattva,  that  in  his  boyhood  he  ran  away  from  the  Mili 
tary  School  at  Grenoble  to  go  himself  to  verify  the  fact,  and 
that  he  took  the  singular  journey  mentioned  above. 

Ordered  one  day  to  reconnoiter  the  intrenched  camp  of  the 
enemy,  he  approached  it  alone  under  cover  of  night,  crawled, 
lying  down,  to  the  foot  of  the  palissades,  tore  some  of  them 
away,  and  only  returned  to  the  American  camp  after  having 
penetrated  the  intrenchments  lie  was  to  reconnoiter. 

During  the  War  of  Independence  de  Mauduit  carried  to  an 
extreme  his  love  of  equality.  He  got  angry  when  he  was 
railed  "Monsieur,"  and  had  himself  called  "Thomas  Duplessis." 


'The  ecu  was  a  piece  of  money  in  use  before   the  franc.     E.  S.  B. 


178  The  French  in  America. 

On  his  return,  in  1779,  he  was  made  chevalier  of  Saint- 
Louis  and  major  of  the  chasseurs  of  the  Vosges.  In  1787 
he  was  appointed  commander  of  the  regiment  of  Port-au- 
Prince,  when,  by  a  singular  contradiction,  he  proved  a  most 
violent  adversary  of  revolutionary  principles  and  of  the  eman 
cipation  of  the  blacks.  Carrying  along  in  his  reactionary 
spirit  de  Blanchelande,  Governor  of  Saint  Domingo,  they  both 
refused  to  promulgate  the  orders  coming  from  the  metropolis, 
disarmed  the  National  Guard,  and  arrested  the  members  of  the 
Colonial  Committee  on  the  29th  of  August,  1790.  Mauduit 
even  formed  a  company  of  Eoyalist  volunteers  from  the  rich 
est  colonists,  which  was  called  the  "  White  Pompons,"  with 
which  he  made  some  bloody  expeditions,  which  led  to  no  other 
result  than  to  make  the  whole  island  revolt.  The  battalions 
of  Artois  and  Normandy,  sent  for  by  de  Blanchelande  as 
succors,  arrived  on  the  2d  of  March,  1791,  crying,  "  Hurrah 
for  freedom ! "  and  wearing  the  tricolor  cocade.  The  regi 
ment  of  Port-au-Prince,  the  sailors  and  the  people  joined 
them.  Blanchelande  had  to  hide  and  Mauduit,  after  trying, 
with  the  brothers  d'Anglade,  to  rally  the  White  Pompons  to 
oppose  the  movement,  was  massacred  and  torn  to  pieces  by 
his  own  soldiers.  A  mulatto,  who  was  much  attached  to 
him,  spent  several  clays  in  collecting  his  scattered  remains, 
buried  them,  and  killed  himself  on  his  grave  with  a  pistol 
shot.260 

MAULEVRIER  (Chevalier  de),  commander  of  the  cutter  the 
Guepe,  which  was  lost  on  Cape  Charles  in  October,  1781. 
He  succeeded  in  saving  his  crew.261 

MAUNY  (Louis-Fran9ois-Philippe  de),  born  in  1749;  pupil 
at  the  Military  School  in  1767,  captain  of  chasseurs  of  Bour- 


260  De  la  Fosse  de  Rouville.    Eloge  historique  du  chevalier  Mauduit  du 
Plessis,  Senlis,  1818,  in  8°. 

261  Mcmoires  of  Deux-Ponts,  page  28. 


List  of  Officers.  179 

l>onnais  in  1779;  was  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt  of  York- 
town,  and  obtained  a  pension  after  the  siege. 

MAURAIGE  (Berand  de).     See  B£RAND. 

MAUROY  (De),  officer,  enlisted  volunteer,  who  left  France 
with  La  Fayette  in  1779.262 

MATRVILLE  (Count  Bide  dc),  French  admiral  ;  born  at 
Rochcfort  the  17th  of  November,  1752;  died  at  Paris  in 
March,  1840;  embarked  at  the  age  of  twelve,  and  behaved 
bravely  at  the  battle  of  Ouessant,  the  27th  of  July,  1778. 
Appointed  naval  lieutenant  the  following  year,  he  received 
the  command  of  the  lugger  the  Chasseur,  and  was  employed 
in  the  wars  of  America  under  Guichen,  then  under  the  Count 
of  La  Motte-Piquet.  The  26th  of  April,  1781,  he  captured 
an  English  privateer  stronger  than  his  own  ship.  A  few  davs 
later  he  captured  four  merchantmen  which  formed  part  of  a 
convoy  escorted  by  two  line  of  battle  ships  and  two  frigates. 
The  17th  of  January,  1783,  on  board  of  the  eighteen  gun 
cutter  the  Matin,  he  was  attacked  in  the  waters  of  Porto  Rico 
by  a  strong  English  frigate,  which  he  forced  to  retreat ;  and 
afterwards  took  part,  under  de  Yaiulreuil  and  de  Soulangcs, 
in  the  various  actions  which  preceded  the  peace  of  1783.  Was 
naval  captain  in  1792,  and  emigrated.  Returned  to  France 
in  1802  without  being  employed.  The  Bourbons  made  him 
rear-admiral  in  1816,  major-general  and  commander  of  the 
port  of  Rochefort,  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis,  officer  of  the 
Legion  of  Honor.  He  was  retired  by  Louis- Philippe. 

MKLFORT  (de),  officer  who  was  on  board  the  Aiyle,  in  1782, 
with  de  Segur,  de  Broglie  and  others.  He  helped  to  save 

of  La,  Fayette. 


180  The  French  in  America. 

the  two  million  five  hundred  thousand  llvres  that  this  frigate 
was  bringing  to  Rochanibeau. 

M£NONVILLE  (Fraii9ois-Louis-Arthur  Thibaut,  Count  de), 
a  descendant  of  an  English  family  which  had  taken  refuge 
in  France  during  the  troubles  caused  by  the  establishment  of 
the  Church  of  England.  One  of  his  ancestors,  Armand  Thi 
baut,  was  employed  by  the  Court  of  France  in  negotiations 
with  Cromwell,  and  obtained  letters  of  nobility  as  a  reward. 

The  one  I  am  especially  writing  of,  was  born  the  2d  of  July, 
1740,  at  the  Chateau  of  Ville,  near  Rambervilliers,  Vosges. 
His  father  was  Francois-Louis  Thibaut  de  Menoiiville,  coun 
sellor  of  the  king  and  commissary  of  war,  and  his  mother  was 
Marie- Anne  de  Bazelaire  de  TEsseu.  He  entered  the  service 
as  student  of  the  School  of  Artillery  and  Engineers  the  1st  of 
May,  1757.  He  had  been  from  the  1st  of  January,  1756, 
cadet  gentilhomme  of  Leczinski,  King  of  Poland  and  Lorraine. 
Engineer  in  1760,  he  served  as  such  in  Corsica.  He  was  sent, 
after  the  submission  of  this  island,  to  the  assistance  of  the  Con 
federation  de  Bar,  under  the  orders  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil. 
His  conduct  brought  him  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  the 
24th  of  March,  1772.  The  1st  of  January,  1773,  he  was  put 
on  staff  duty  and  received  the  cross  of  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis. 
He  left  as  aid-major-general  with  de  Tarle';  was  present  on 
the  ships  of  Captain  Destouches 263  at  the  action  in  Chesapeake 
Bay  the  16th  of  March,  1781,  and  by  his  skillful  manage 
ment  during  the  siege  of  Yorktown  helped  in  bringing  about 
the  surrender.  He  was  made  major-general  in  November, 
1781,  and  lieutenant-general  in  1782.  On  his  return  to 
France  he  married,  in  September,  1783,  Mademoiselle  de 
Martimprey,  of  the  same  family  as  the  present  French  generals 
of  that  name.  He  was  brigadier  of  the  armies  of  the  king 


263  For  an  incident  showing  the  coolness  of  de  Menoiiville  during  the 
action,  see  Vol.  I.,  page  136. 


List  of  Officers.  181 

at  Saint  Die,  where  he  received  permission  from  Louis  the 
Sixteenth  to  wear  the  decoration  of  the  Cincinnati,  the  24th 
of  August,  1784. 

Martchal  dc  camp  the  21st  of  September,  1788.  He  had  at 
this  time  a  pension  of  eight  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety 
francs.  Deputy  from  the  nobility  to  the  States  General,  he 
voted  the  abolition  of  the  privileges,  and  was  deprived  of  his 
pay  through  the  passing  of  the  measure  to  revise  the  pensions. 

The  king,  who  knew  his  fidelity,  had  asked  him  not  to 
leave  him,  intrusting  to  him  several  pieces  of  work.  But 
he  had  to  go  to  Lorraine  to  look  after  his  affairs,  which  were 
in  bad  shape.  He  was  arrested  in  1792  at  Saint  Die,  and 
came  near  being  torn  to  pieces,  as  happened  to  one  of  his 
friends  and  relatives,  de  Spisemberg,  whose  house  was  pil 
laged.  From  there  he  was  taken  to  fipinal,  where  he  stayed 
four  years.  Bonaparte  gave  him  a  pension  of  a  thousand 
francs,  a  sum  much  inferior  to  what  his  rank  deserved.  He 
would  accept  no  official  position  for  his  son,  and  left  no  for 
tune  to  his  children. 

It  is  to  his  grandson,  Francois-Michel-Antoine  de  Menon- 
ville,  present  head  of  the  family,  that  1  owe  these  notes.-114 

MKXOU  (Louis-Armand-Francois  dc),  born  at  Monsegur, 
Guyenne,  in  1744;  served  from  17<>1  ;  captain  in  the  regi 
ment  of  Soissonnais  in  1778;  appointed  major  of  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais,  which  became  Royal-Auvergne,  after  the  capture 
of  Yorktown. 

"  He  was  a  distinguished  officer  and  brilliant  in  war,"  says 
a  note.  One  must  not  mistake  him  for  the  Baron  dc  Menou 
who  served  later  in  Egypt,  and  who  took  the  command  of 
the  French  troops  after  Kleber,  when  the  latter  was  assas 
sinated. 


284  General  de  Menonville  left  a  journal  which   has  been  very  useful 
to  me.    See  Vol.  I.,  page  10. 


182  The  French  in  America. 

MENOU  (Pierre-Armand,  Chevalier  de),  born  at  Monsegur, 
Guyenne,  in  1755  ;  made  the  expedition  of  America  as  cap 
tain  in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais. 

MICOUL  (Chevalier  de),  who  seems  to  have  been  at  Sa 
vannah  ;  defended  to  the  last  ditch,  with  de  Bouille,  Saint 
Lucia,  of  which  he  was  governor,  on  the  13th  of  November, 
1778,  against  Brigadier-General  Meadows  and  General  Prevost. 
The  island  was  taken,  but  the  garrison  received  the  honors  of 
war,  and  Chevalier  de  Micoul  obtained  permission  to  remain 
long  enough  to  take  away  all  his  personal  effects.  He  was 
soon  exchanged  for  other  prisoners.265 

MIOLLIS  (Sextus-Alexandre-Frangois,  Count  de),  born  in 
1759  at  Aix,  one  of  the  sixteen  children  of  Joseph-Laurent- 
Miollis,  counsellor  to  the  Chamber  of  Accounts  of  Aix;  en 
tered,  in  1772,  the  infantry  regiment  of  Soissonnais,  became 
sub-lieutenant  in  1779  and  left  for  America.  Was  wounded 
in  the  face  by  a  splinter  from  a  bomb,  before  Yorktown,  dur 
ing  the  night  of  the  13th  of  October,  1781,  in  the  line  of 
the  second  parallel ;  was  appointed  lieutenant  in  1782  and 
captain  on  his  return  to  France.  Decorated  with  the  order 
of  the  Cincinnati.  Served  under  the  Republic  and  the  Em 
pire  with  distinction  and  was  made  general  in  1795.  He  it 
was  who  carried  out  the  orders  of  Napoleon  against  Pius  the 
Seventh,  but  with  a  moderation  for  which  the  Pope  was  very 
grateful.  He  died  in  1828,  at  Aix. 

MIRABEAU  (Andre-Boniface-Louis-Riquetti,  Chevalier  de), 
born  at  Bignon,  Gatinais,  in  1754;  was  inscribed  at  his  birth 
on  the  lists  of  the  Knights  of  Malta.  His  studies  were  very 
poor,  but  he  had  much  natural  wit.  He  went  to  Malta  from 
1775  until  1778,  and  then  embarked  to  serve  in  America 

265  Longchamps. 


List  of  Officers.  183 

under  the  orders  of  de  Guichen.  He  showed  a  bravery  akin 
to  recklessness  in  the  actions  before  Yorktown,  Saint  Eustatius 
and  Saint  Christopher,  where  he  was  dangerously  wounded. 
Later  he  was  deputy  to  the  States  General ;  but,  a  Royalist, 
he  was  constantly  annoying  the  left  of  the  Assembly  by 
pointed,  witty  and  sarcastic  remarks.  An  open  champion  of 
the  aristocracy  and  of  the  privileges,  he  attacked  even  his 
brother,  who  kept  sparing  him,  and  fought  with  Latour- 
Maubourg  a  duel  in  which  he  was  severely  wounded.  De 
voted  to  good  eating  and  creature  comforts,  he  grew  so  fat 
that  at  the  age  of  thirty  he  weighed  over  two  hundred  pounds, 
which  made  the  people  nickname  him,  Mirabeau  Tonneaa.  The 
Assembly  was  about  to  take  steps  against  him  when  he  emi 
grated.  He  raised  then  the  celebrated  Legion  of  Mirabeau,  or 
Hussars  of  Death,  of  three  thousand  men,  who  in  1792  fought 
a  bloody  skirmish  war  with  the  Republicans.  Died  in  1792, 
and  was  buried  at  Salt/bach,  at  the  place  where  Turenne  was 
killed.  Decorated  with  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

MISSIESSY  (Edouard-Thomas-Burgues,  Count  de),  born  the 
23d  of  April,  1754.  Enlisted  at  the  age  of  ten  on  the  vessel 
of  his  father,  the  Altler ;  marine  guard  in  1770,  ensign  in 
1777.  The  Vaillant,  on  which  he  then  served  under  d'Estaing, 
took  part  in  the  campaign  at  Newport,  and  in  the  actions  of 
Saint  Lucia,  Grenada  and  Savannah.  In  1780  he  embarked 
on  the  frigate  the  Surveillarde,  Captain  de  Cillart,  which  was 
taking  troops  to  Rochambeau.  After  the  landing  at  Newport 
he  went  to  Saint  Domingo,  and  had  occasion  to  fight  a  brilliant 
combat  of  three  hours  against  an  English  ship,  the  /7/vx.sr.v,  <>f 
sixty  guns.  The  frigate  had  only  thirty-two,  of  smaller  si/e. 
Missiessy  received  the  rank  of  captain  of  frig-ate  in  May,  17S1. 
He  served  afterwards  in  European  seas.  Naval  captain  the 
1st  of  January,  1792,  rear-admiral  the  following  year.  He 
was  then  at  Toulon,  and  fled  to  Italy  during  the  Terror.  He 
returned  in  1795,  was  kept  arrested  for  some  time,  then 


184  The  French  in  America. 

acquitted.  Vice-admiral  in  1809,  he  defended  the  mouth  of 
the  Scheldt  against  the  English,  and  was  made  count  by  Napo 
leon,  with  four  thousand  francs  income.  In  1811  grand  officer 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  with  twenty  thousand  francs  income ; 
made  grand  cross  in  1814  by  Louis  the  Eighteenth.  He  kept 
aloof  during  the  "  Hundred  Days."  Commander  of  Saint-Louis 
in  1816  and  grand  cross  in  1823;  chevalier-commander  of 
the  Saint-Esprit  in  1827.  Eetired  in  1832. 

MOLIERES  (Andre-Louis-Floret  de),  born  in  1749,  pupil  of 
the  Military  School  in  1767  ;  was  captain  en  second  in  the 
regiment  of  Gatinais  during  the  campaign  of  1781. 

MONTALEGRE  (Jeaii-Barthelemy  Fabregue  de).  See  FAB 
REGUE. 

MONTALEMBERT  (Louis  -  Francois  -  Joseph  -Bonaventure  de 
Tryon,  Count  de),  born  the  18th  of  October,  1758,  died  in 
1831  ;  entered  early  the  army,  and  made  the  American  cam 
paigns  with  the  regiment  of  Saintonge.  In  1789  he  resigned 
from  his  position  of  commander  of  squadron  in  the  regiment 
of  Gevaudan.  Under  the  Empire,  as  also  under  the  Kestau- 
ration,  he  had  a  seat  in  the  Assembly.  He  was  chamberlain 
of  Napoleon  the  First. 

MONTAUT  (De),  captain  of  the  Fier-Rodrigue,  three-decker 
of  sixty  guns,  belonging  to  Beaumarchais,  and  serving  as  escort 
to  the  merchant  fleets  sent  by  the  latter  to  America,  The  12th 
of  July,  1779,  d'Estaing  ordered  this  ship  to  take  its  place 
in  the  battle  line  before  the  Island  of  Grenada  to  fight  the 
fleet  of  Byron.  De  Montaut  was  killed  in  the  action. 

MONTCALM  (Paul-Fran9ois-Joseph,  Marquis  de),  born  in 
1756  in  the  Rouergue,  died  in  Piedmont  in  1812,  was  the 
son  of  the  General  killed  at  Quebec.  Entered  the  navy  and 


List  of  Officers.  185 

served  as  naval  captain  under  d'Estaing  and  Suffren.  He  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  Grenada  and  at  Gibraltar.  Deputy  to 
the  States  General,  he  proposed  abolishing  the  pensions.  Those 
of  the  Montealms  and  the  D'Assas  were  retained.266  He  emi 
grated  in  1700,  and  went  into  Spain  and  Piedmont.  He  died 
from  a  fall. 

MoNTCOURRiER  (De),  infantry  officer,  killed  in  the  naval 
action  off  Saint  Lucia,  the  19th  of  May,  1780. 

MONTESQUIEU  (Baron  do),  grandson  of  the  author  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  /yw.s-,  went  to  America  in  1782  on  the  Gloire  with 
de  Broglie  and  do  Segur.  He  had  made  before  this  the  expe 
dition  of  1780-81  as  aid-de-camp  to  de  Chastellux.267  He  re 
ceived  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  was  appointed  colonel 
of  the  infantry  regiment  of  Bourbonnais,  whence  he  went  to 
that  of  Cambresis.  He  emigrated  in  171)2,  and  joined  the 
army  of  the  princes,  where  lie  served  on  the  staff  of  the 
Duke  de  Laval  and  also  on  that  of  Lord  Rawdon,  later  Mar 
quis  of  Hastings.  lie  died  near  Canterbury,  in  England,  in 
1822. 

MOXTFOIIT  (Count  de),  enlisted  as  a  volunteer  ;  sent  to  Wash 
ington,  to  fill  the  position  of  lieutenant,  the  27th  of  March, 

1777.'268 

MONTHUREL,  officer  of  hussars  of  the  legion  of  Lan/nn, 
distinguished  himself  before  Gloucester."69 

MONTIEU  (De),  privateersman  at  Nantes,  friend  of  Beaumar- 
chais,  desired  to  go  to  America,  although  no  longer  young. 

206 See  in  the  List  of  Officers:  Assas,  note  48. 
207  Blanchard. 

268  Auberteuil. 

269  Report  of  Rochambeau. 


186  The  French  in  America. 

Dubourg  wished  at  first  to  engage  him  on  account  of  his  tal 
ents  and  his  experience,  but  recoiled  before  his  pretensions.270 
A  de  Monthieu  went  later  to  America;  perhaps  he  is  the  same. 

MONTLEZCXN  (Jean-Francois  du  Moulin  de  la  Bastille),  born 
in  1729  at  Aire,  Guyenne;  entered  the  service  in  1744,  cap 
tain  in  the  regiment  of  Touraine  in  1755,  lieutenant-colonel 
in  1779  ;  received  a  severe  bruise  in  the  action  fought  by  de 
Grasse  on  the  12th  of  April,  1782. 

MONTLONG,  served  in  1777  as  sub-lieutenant  of  Agenois, 
and  was  present  at  the  sieges  of  Pensacola  and  Yorktown. 

MOEAED  DE  GALLE  (Jtistin-Bonaventure),  vice-admiral, 
grand  officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  senator ;  born  at  Gon- 
celin,  Dauphine,  in  1741.  Private  of  the  marine  guard  at  the 
age  of  sixteen;  entered  the  navy;  flag  guard  in  1757,  ensign 
in  1765. 

He  was  naval  lieutenant  on  the  Ville  de  Paris,  under  de 
Grasse,  at  the  action  of  Ouessant,  the  27th  of  July,  1778.  In 
1780  he  was  present  on  the  Couronne  at  the  three  actions 
fought  by  de  Guichen.  He  served  afterwards  under  Suffren 
in  the  East  Indies,  and  died  at  Gueret,  Creuse,  in  1809. 

MORREIGE.     See  BERAND. 

MORY  (De),  infantry  officer,  wounded  in  the  naval  action 
off  Grenada. 

MOTTE  or  MOTHE  (Durand  de  La),  officer  of  the  regiment 
of  Champagne ;  was  at  the  capture  of  Grenada  and  at  the  naval 
action  off  Saint  Lucia.  Wounded  at  Savannah. 


270  American  Archives. 


List  of  Officers.  187 

MoTTE-PiQUET  (Toussaint-Guillaume,  Count  de  La),  lieu 
tenant-general  of  the  naval  armies,  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis, 
born  at  Rennes  in  1720.  Marine  guard  in  1735,  naval  lieu 
tenant  in  1745,  made  the  same  year  a  campaign  to  Canada; 
captain  of  corvette  in  1755,  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis  in  1756, 
naval  captain  in  1763.  Chief  of  squadron  in  1778,  he  was 
present  on  the  Kaint-Esprit  at  the  action  of  Ouessant,  the  27th 
of  July,  1778,  as  flag  captain  to  the  Duke  de  Chartres.  In 
1779  he  went  to  the  Antilles  under  the  orders  of  the  Count 
d'Estaing,  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Grenada  the  4th  of 
July,  and  at  the  action  of  the  6th.  When  d'Estaing  resolved 
to  capture  Savannah,  the  Chevalier  de  La  Motte-Piquet  \va- 
charged  to  protect,  with  seven  vessels,  the  landing  of  three 
thousand  five  hundred  soldiers.  He  distinguished  himself  by 
several  brilliant  deeds  ;  was  appointed  lieutenant-general  in 
1782,  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis  in  1784.  He  died  at  Brest 
the  llth  of  June,  1791.  Doubtless  decorated  with  the  order 
of  the  Cincinnati. 

MOTTIX  DE  LA  BALME,  enlisted  as  volunteer  the  2<>th  of 
May,  1777;  brevet  lieutenant-colonel  of  cavalry.  The  18th 
of  July  following  he  was  appointed  inspector  of  cavalry,  with 
the  rank  of  colonel.  He  resigned  on  the  12th  of  October  of 
the  same  year. 

There  was  a  DE  LA  KALME,  infantry  officer,  wounded  at  the 
naval  action  off  Saint  Lucia  the  19th  of  March,  1780.  He- 
is  perhaps  the  same  as  the  above,  who  mav  have  re-entered 
the  service  in  the  French  colonial  troops. 

MOYRIA  (Joseph-Marie-Anne),  born  at  Bourg  in  Bresse  in 
1744;  student  at  the  Military  School,  then  officer,  in  1762, 
in  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais.  He  made  campaigns  in  Ger 
many,  in  Corsica  and  in  America.  He  was  captain  at  the 
time  of  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  was  decorated  after  the 
siege. 


188  The  French  in  America. 

MUDERIE  DE  CAMPANES  (Pierre  La),  born  in  1739  ; 
appointed  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Bourbonnais  in  1777, 
obtained  a  pension  of  four  hundred  livres  at  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  Yorktown. 

MUHLENFELS  (Charles- Adam),  born  in  1748  ;  sub-lieu 
tenant  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  the  3d  of  August,  1765,  captain 
in  1779;  obtained  a  reward  for  his  courage  before  Yorktown. 

MULLENS,  enlisted  as  volunteer  ;  private  in  the  regiment  of 
Berwick  in  1757,  sub-lieutenant  in  1770,  lieutenant  in  1778 
and  captain  in  1779.  He  made  two  campaigns  in  Germany, 
two  to  Mauritius  and  seven  in  America. 

MURNAND  (Jean-Bernard  de). 

MUY  (Da),  name  that  de  Sainte-Mesme,  colonel  of  Sois- 
sonnais,  took  on  his  return  to  France.  See  SAINTE-MESME. 
The  notice  of  Didot  is  under  the  name  of  Du  Muy. 

1ST. 

NADAL,  director  of  the  artillery  trains  during  the  expe 
dition  of  Rochambeau  ;271  lieutenant-colonel,  chief  of  brigade 
in  the  regiment  of  Auxonne. 

NEURIS  (De),  officer  of  artillery,  who  belonged  to  the  ex 
peditionary  corps  of  Rochambeau  ;  captain  in  the  regiment  of 
Auxonne.  He  was  intrusted  with  establishing  and  command 
ing  a  battery  of  mortars  and  cannons  at  the  narrowest  point 
of  the  North  River,  above  Peekskill.  The  18th  of  July,  1781, 
he  did  much  harm  to  the  English  squadron,  which  had  ven 
tured  into  this  part  of  the  river.272 

^Blanchard. 

272  Journal  of  Cromot  Dubourg. 


List  of  Officers.  189 

NEUVILLE  or  DE  LA  NEUVILLE,  enlisted  as  volunteer  on 
the  27th  of  October,  1777  ;  served  as  aid-de-camp  of  La  Fay- 
ette,  and  under  the  orders  of  General  Parsons. 

De  Neuville  asked  for  nothing  less,  says  General  Washing 
ton,273  than  the  creation  of  a  position  of  brigadier-general  for 
him,  the  24th  of  July,  1778,  to  which  Morris  answers  from 
Philadelphia  the  2d  of  August,  1778:  "The  faith  of  Con 
gress  is  in  some  measure  plighted  to  M.  de  la  Neuville,  but 
it  is  not  to  their  interest  that  his  brevet  shall  give  command. 
The  Baron  has  a  claim  from  his  merit  to  be  noticed  ;  but  I 
will  never  consent  to  grant  what  I  am  told  he  requests,  and 
I  think  Congress  will  not."  He  obtained  this  title  of  brig 
adier-general,  but  resigned  the  4th  of  December,  1778.274 

NlEMCEWlCZ,  born  at  Skoki,  Lithuania,  in  1757;  entered  the 
service  at  Warsaw,  followed  Kosciusko  to  America  ;  wounded 
at  the  same  time  as  Kosciusko  at  Savannah,  Niemewicz  took 
care  of  him  with  the  most  devoted  friendship.  Having  re 
turned  to  his  native  laud  he  was  elected,  in  1788,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Polish  Diet  and  became  noted  for  his  eloquence 
and  his  liberal  writings.  In  17->4  he  made  the  campaign 
against  Catherine  and  was  taken  prisoner  with  Kosciusko. 
Restored  to  freedom,  he  returned  to  the  United  States  and 
only  returned  thence  in  1807.  Jle  died  at  Mnntmorency,  near 
Paris,  in  1841.  He  was  a  distinguished  man  of  letters  and 
a  poet. 

NoAILLES  (Louis-Marie,  Viscount  de),  second  son  of  Mar 
shal  de  Mouchy,  born  at  Paris  the  17th  of  April,  17")').  He 
was  brother-in-law  of  La  Fayette,  and  a  great  friend  of  his 
and  of  de  Segur.  They  had  formed  the  project  of  starting 
together  for  America,  but  their  parents,  having  discovered 


278  Life  and  Writings  of  Gouvernev.r  J/o/r/*,  by  J.  Sparks.  Vol.  I.,  page  174. 
274  Auberteuil. 


190  The  French  in  America. 

their  plans,  prevented  them.  La  Fayette  alone  had  will  and 
independence  enough,  thanks  to  his  fortune,  to  carry  out  his 
generous  project. 

Captain  the  7th  of  March,  1773  ;  colonel  of  Soissonnais  the 
28th  of  February,  1778,  but  only  to  take  his  rank  when  he 
wras  twenty-eight  years  old.  He  made  with  this  rank  the 
expedition  of  America  and  had  several  times  the  chief  com 
mand  of  the  work  on  the  trenches  before  Yorktown.  He  was 
intrusted  with  arranging  the  terms  of  surrrender  with  Col 
onel  Laurens  and  de  Granchain.  Washington  several  times 
praises  his  courage  and  his  intelligence. 

On  his  return  he  was  appointed  mestre  de  camp,  lieutenant- 
commandant  of  the  regiment  of  dragoons  of  the  king,  and 
was  replaced  in  his  position  of  colonel  en  second  of  Soissonnais 
by  de  Segur  in  1782.  He  had  conceived  in  America  a  great 
enthusiasm  for  liberty,  and  he  took  up  with  eagerness  the  cause 
of  the  French  Revolution ;  he  proposed,  during  the  famous 
night  of  the  4th  of  August,  the  principal  reforms  against  the 
privileges.  He  commanded  the  advanced  posts  of  Valenciennes 
in  1792  ;  but  not  approving  the  excesses  of  the  Terror,  he 
resigned  and  withdrew  to  England  and  thence  to  the  United 
States,  where  he  played  a  strange  role.273  He  re-entered  the 
service  again  under  the  Consulate,  and  went  in  1803  to  Saint 
Domingo  with  the  rank  of  brigadier-general. 

The  rest  of  his  life  is  so  well  told  by  his  sister-in-law, 
Madame  de  Montagu,  that  I  insert  here  her  account  which 
is  found  in  the  very  interesting  book :  Anne-Paule-Dominique 
de  Noailles,  Marquise  de  Montagu,  by  the  Duke  de  Noailles. 
Paris,  1868.276 

"  The  Viscount  de  Noailles,  considered  one  of  the  best  of 
ficers  of  his  day,  who  had  followed  La  Fayette,  his  brother- 
in-law,  to  America  during  the  War  of  Independence  ;  who, 


275  Pontgibaud. 

278  See  that  book,  pages  386-392.    E.  S.  13. 


List  of  Officers.  191 

much  smitten  with  the  ideas  of  1789,  had  sat  in  the  Consti 
tutional  Assembly  beside  Maury,  Barnave  and  Mirabeau  ; 
who,  in  the  famous  night  of  the  4th  of  August,  taking  the 
initiative  of  the  three  propositions,  indispensable  basis  of  the 
great  reforms,  then  in  every  mind,  the  equal  distribution  of 
all  taxation  among  all  Frenchmen,  the  abolition  by  purchase 
of  feudal  rights,  and  the  abolition  without  purchase  of  the 
corvee*  and  personal  servitude,  had  given  the  signal  for  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  in  that  same  sitting  the  nobility  and 
the  clergy  despoiled  themselves  so  generously  and  so  patriot 
ically  of  their  rights  and  privileges.  This  same  Viscount  de 
Noaillcs  was  none  the  less  an  emiyre  like  the  others.-77 

""When  war  wa.s  declared,  in  April,  1792,  he  commanded 
a  brigade  in  the  advance  guard  during  the  first  invasion  of 
Belgium,  and  he  found  himself  surrounded  in  the  flight  of 
our  troops,  which  took  place  with  the  cry  of  "Treachery  !"  and 
amid  which  General  Theobald  Dillon  was  massacred,  and  ho 
himself  was  obliged  to  seek  a  refuge  beyond  the  frontier, 
where  he  was  immediately  declared  an  emigre  and  proscribed. 

"  He  first  went  to  England,  then  to  America,  where  he  en 
tered  with  success  into  the  commercial  operations  of  the  house 
of  Bingham.  Madame  de  Montagu  succeeded  in  having  his 
name  struck  oil'  the  list  of  emiyi'fa.  His  return  was  retarded 
by  a  long  lawsuit,  where  he  argued  his  case  himself  in  Kng- 
lish  before  the  American  courts.  So  well  did  he  speak  that 
language,  of  which  we  will  see  the  importance  to  him  later, 
that  he  won  his  suit,  amid  universal  applause.  But  the 
obligation  of  following  out  the  consequences  forced  him  to  go 

277 "  Those  who  by  hatred  for  the  past,"  Bays  de  Chateaubriand,  "cry 
out  to-day  against  the  nobility,  forget  that  it  was  a  member  of  that 
nobility,  the  Viscount  de  Noailles,  supported  by  the  Duke  d'Aiguillon 
and  Mathieu  de  Montmorency,  who  overthrew  the  edifice  which  was 
attacked  by  republican  prejudice.  On  the  motion  of  the  feudal  deputy 
the  feudal  rights  were  abolished.  As  the  old  France  owed  its  glory  to 
the  feudal  nobility,  the  new  France  owes  it  its  liberty,  if  there  is  lib 
erty  for  France.  (Mi-moires  d'Outre-Tombe,  Vol.  II.,  page  69.) 


192  The  French  in  America, 

to  Saint  Domingo,  where  our  possessions  had  fallen  into  the 
power  of  the  negroes,  and  which  a  French  army  was  trying 
to  reconquer. 

"  He  found  this  army  partly  destroyed  by  yellow  fever,  and 
its  remains  attacked  on  one  side  by  the  negroes,  on  the  other 
by  the  British  squadrons.  Rochambeau  was  in  command. 
Noailles  devotedly  put  himself  at  the  disposition  of  his  old 
comrade  in  arms,  and,  amongst  other  deeds,  helped  materially 
in  the  capture  of  Fort  Dauphin.278 

"  Rochambeau  gave  him  the  command  of  the  Mole  Saint 
Nicholas,  whose  garrison,  reduced  to  eighteen  hundred  men, 
was  besieged  by  twenty  thousand  blacks  and  a  British  squad 
ron.  He  defended  himself  there  for  five  months.  But  Roch 
ambeau,  shut  in  at  the  Cape,  was  at  length  forced  by  famine 
to  surrender  with  his  negroes.  He  was  going  to  retire  with 
his  troops  on  neutral  vessels,  but  the  English  fleet  sur 
rounded  these  ships,  forced  them  to  surrender,  and  prepared 
to  take  them  to  Europe.  The  commander  of  the  squadron 
which  was  blockading  Mole  Saint  Nicholas  informed  General 
de  Noailles  of  these  events,  asking  him  to  cease  a  useless  re 
sistance. 

" i  A  French  general/  he  answered,  '  cannot  surrender  with 
out  shame  as  long  as  he  has  supplies,  ammunition  and  de 
voted  soldiers.  France,  like  England,  has  fleets  on  the  ocean. 
I  will  wait.7 

"  This  answer  hid  his  intrepid  project  of  escaping  with  his 
entire  force  from  the  hostile  fleets.  Informed  that  the  con 
voy  which  took  with  it  the  ships  of  Rochambeau  was  to  pass 
three  days  later  before  the  Mole  during  the  night,  he  pre 
pared  his  men,  and  on  seven  ships  which  were  in  the  port 

278 In  striking  him  off  the  lists  of  emic/res  he  had  been  reinstated  in 
his  military  rank,  for  he  wrote  to  his  son  Alexis:  "I  have  not  yet  re 
ceived  the  confirmation  of  the  rank  of  acting  brigadier-general,  which 
position  I  have  filled  for  eight  months.  I  desire  that  the  commission 
bear  the  date  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Dauphin." 


List  of  Officers.  193 

mounted  his  soldiers,  his  cannons,  his  ammunition,  with  some 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Mole,  and  awaited  in  silence  the 
passage  of  the  convoy.  When  the  ship's  lights  appeared  the 
order  for  departure  was  given,  and  during  a  dark  night  the 
seven  ships,  profiting  by  the  confusion  of  the  passage  and  de 
ceiving  the  blockading  squadron,  joined  the  convoy.  Xoailles 
himself  led,  and,  speaking  English  perfectly,  answered  himself 
all  the  hails  from  the  nearer  ships.  Little  by  little  he  drew 
away  with  his  ships,  and  spread  all  sail  at  dawn,  and  although 
the  English  then  discovered  what  had  happened  and  sailed 
after  him,  he  reached  successfully,  with  his  seven  ships,  J>ar- 
acoa,  a  port  in  the  Island  of  Cuba.  He  landed  there  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Mole,  as  well  as  his  troops,  of  whom  lie 
sent  some  back  to  France  and  kept  the  others,  intending  to 
lead  them  to  Havana,  where  General  Lavalette  was  in  com 
mand. 

"He  chartered  for  this  purpose  three  small  vessels,  got  as 
escort  the  war  schooner  the  ( burner,  and  sailed  himself  on 
this  schooner,  which  was  only  armed  with  four  guns,  with 
his  stall'  and  a  company  of  grenadiers  of  the  olth  half 
brigade.  Four  days  afterwards,  on  the  31st  of  December, 
1803,  off  the  Great-Nuevita,  he  met  at  dusk  an  English 
corvette,  the  Jluzarrfj  of  seven  guns,  which  hailed  him.  lie 
hastened  to  raise  the  English  colors,  and  answered  in  such 
good  English  that  the  commander  of  the  corvette  informed 
him  that  he  was  in  search  of  a  French  boat  carrying  (ieneral 
de  Noailles.  'I  have  precisely  the  same  mission,'  he  answered, 
and  began  to  sail  with  the  corvette.  Then,  when  the  night 
became  dark,  he  proposed  to  his  soldiers  to  board  the  Kngli.sh. 
The  proposal  being  received  with  delight,  Lieutenant  Deshayes, 
who  was  commanding  the  Courrier,  sailed  it  so  as  to  bring  it 
all  of  a  sudden  alongside  of  the  corvette.  The  shock  was  so 
violent  that  the  stem  of  the  Courrier  was  broken.  The  English, 
surprised,  rushed  to  arms ;  but  de  Noailles  dashed  with  his 
grenadiers  on  to  their  deck,  and  after  a  terrible  combat,  the 


194  The  French  in  America. 

corvette,  which  had  lost  half  its  crew,  surrendered.  Unfor 
tunately,  at  the  end  of  the  battle,  an  enemy's  bullet  struck  the 
heroic  descendant  of  a  race  of  warriors,  of  whom  he  had 
showed  himself  so  worthy  ;  and  on  the  morrow,  on  board  of 
his  prize,  but  mortally  wounded,  and  towing  the  Courrier,  half 
broken  to  pieces,  he  entered  gloriously  Havana.  He  lived 
only  six  days  after  his  triumph,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  Jan 
uary,  1804.  His  heart  was  inclosed  in  a  silver  box  by  his 
grenadiers,  who  fastened  it  to  their  flag  and  brought  it  back 
to  France,  which  the  brave  Frenchman  had  desired  to  have 
reopened  to  him  by  his  glory."279 

NOAILLES  (Viscount  de),  perhaps  a  brother  of  the  pre 
ceding  one,  was  with  Edouard  Dillon  at  the  head  of  an  at 
tacking  column  at  Grenada  on  the  6th  of  July,  1779.280 

NOES  (Augustin-Rousselin  de),  born  at  Caen  in  1741.  En 
tered  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  in  1762,  captain  in  1779  ; 
decorated  for  his  conduct  before  Yorktown. 

NOMPEKE  DE  CHAMPAGNY.     See  CHAMPAGNY. 

NORTMAN,  officer  of  the  legion  of  Lauzun,  of  Avhom  Croniot 
Dubourg  speaks  as  follows  :  "  While  on  patrol  before  New 
York,  with  six  hussars,  during  the  night  of  the  17th  to  the 
18th  of  July,  1781,  a  few  pistol  shots  were  exchanged  with 
some  dragoons  of  Delancey;  Nortman  was  killed.  The  in 
fantry  advanced  to  support  the  hussars,  but  the  enemy  had 
gone  under  cover  of  the  darkness.  The  riderless  horse  re 
turned  to  camp  ;  a  sentinel  hailed  it,  and,  receiving  no  answer, 
killed  it  with  a  single  shot." 


feat  of  arms  was  painted  by  Gudin  in  one  of  his 
best  pictures." 

280  "The  Marquis  de  Noailles  has  written  to  me  that  there  is  a  mis 
take  here.    Must  be  looked  up."    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  195 

O. 

O'FARREL  (Claude),  born  at  Alais  in  1751.  Served  four 
years  in  the  regiment  of  Lally  in  India  ;  put  on  the  waiting 
list,  and  entered  the  regiment  of  Dillon  as  cadet  in  1775.  He 
was  appointed  officer  in  1770,  and  was  present  at  the  assault 
on  the  Morne  of  Grenada,  at  the  naval  action  and  at  the 
assault  of  Savannah,  where  he  received  a  gunshot  wound  in 
the  leg.  He  served  in  the  campaign  of  America  as  lieuten 
ant  in  the  regiment  of  Dillon. 

OLLOXE  (Chevalier  d'),  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of 
Schomberg  since  1773.  Went  to  America  as  aid-de-camp  of 
the  Baron  de  Viomenil.  His  uncle  was  employed  on  the 
staff,  in  waiting.  He  received  a  brevet  of  captain  after  the 
capture  of  Yorktown. 

O'MoRAN  (Jacques-Joseph),  born  at  Elphin,  Ireland,  in 
1739.  At  the  Revolution  was  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Dil 
lon.  Appointed  marechal  dc  camp,  he  made  under  Dumouriez 
the  campaigns  of  Champagne  and  Belgium.  In  1793,  he  took 
Tournay  and  Cassel,  but  accused  of  inrapacity,  he  was  arrested 
by  the  orders  of  the  deputies  Lcvasseur  and  Delbret,  sent  to 
Paris  and  condemned  to  death.  Guillotined  the  Gth  of  March, 
1794. 

O'XEIL  (Bernard),  born  at  Saint  Omer  in  1730.  Was  the 
fifth  generation  to  serve  in  the  Irish  regiment  of  Dillon  since 
its  formation  in  France.  He  made  first  the  campaigns  of 
Germany,  then  went  to  the  Antilles  and  was  present  at  the 
capture  of  Grenada,  at  the  naval  action  and  at  the  siege  of  Sa 
vannah,  where  he  received  a  gunshot  wound  in  the  chest.  He 
died  in  America  in  1780,  after  twenty-nine  years  of  service. 

OUIBERT,  lieutenant-colonel,  20th  of  June,  1776. 
OPTKRRE  (II).     See  AUBETERRE. 


196  The  French  in  America. 

P. 

PAILLOT  or  PALLIOL,  enlisted  as  private  in  the  regiment 
of  Gatinais  in  1756,  sub-lieutenant  of  grenadiers  in  1779;  was 
present  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown. 

PANGE  (De),  aid-de-camp  of  the  Chevalier  de  Yiomenil ;  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown.281 

PARENT  (Charles),  enlisted  as  a  volunteer ;  started  in  the 
beginning  of  the  war  with  another  volunteer  named  War 
ren,  of  English  extraction.  Was  present  at  the  battle  of  the 
Brandywine.  He  returned  to  France  after  the  war,  entered 
the  regular  army,  and  retired  in  1816  with  the  rank  of  chief 
of  battalion.282 

PARMENTIER  (Jacques- Joseph),  born  at  Heigen  in  1728 ; 
private  in  the  regiment  of  Touraine  in  1746,  officer  in  1764, 
lieutenant  in  1776.  He  received  a  gratification  after  the  cap 
ture  of  Yorktown. 


PECOSME  (Laborde  de).     See  LABORDE.283 

PELISSIER  (Christophe),  enlisted  as  volunteer  the  29th  of 
July,  1776,  one  of  the  first;  appointed  engineer  with  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.284 

PEROUSE  (Jean-Fran 901  s-Galaup,  Count  de  La),  chevalier 
of  Saint-Louis,  chief  of  squadron,  born  at  Albi  in  1741  ; 
shipwrecked  in  1788. 

281  Dupetit-Thouars  and  Blanchard. 

282  Information  given  by    his    great  nephew,  M.  Charles  Louandre, 
literary  man  and  French  historian. 

283 1  leave  this  as  it  is  in  the  French.     I  think  he  is  perhaps  the  same 
as  Laborde  de  Beaume.    E.  S.  B. 
284Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  197 

Enlisted  as  marine  guard  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  ensign  in 
1764,  naval  lieutenant  in  1777;  commanded  the  Amazonc  of 
twenty-six  guns,  which  took  part  in  the  capture  of  Saint 
Vincent  and  of  Grenada,  as  well  as  in  the  action  of  the  4th 
of  July,  1779,  against  Admiral  Byron.  In  October,  1779, 
while  cruising  on  the  coast  of  Georgia,  he  captured  the  frig 
ate  Ariel,  of  twenty-six  guns,  after  an  hour's  fight,  and  on  the 
8th  of  December  following  he  captured,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Savannah,  the  English  privateer  the  Tiyer,  of  twenty-two 
guns. 

In  April,  1780,  he  became  naval  captain,  and  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  command  of  the  Aatrfc.  The  21st  of  Jtilv  fol 
lowing,  while  cruising  with  the  frigate  the  Hermione,  Captain 
de  La  Touche-Treville,  he  fought  a  brilliant  action  in  sight 
of  Royal  Island  against  six  British  ships,  of  which  he  cap 
tured  two. 

In  1782,  La  Perouse,  who  commanded  the  Sceptre,  was 
sent  to  destroy  the  English  establishments  of  Hudson's  Buy. 
The  Astrfe.  and  the  Engageante  were  placed  under  his  orders. 
On  these  three  ships  were  embarked  two  hundred  and  fiftv 
infantry,  forty  artillerymen,  four  field  guns,  two  mortars  and 
three  hundred  bombs.  La  Perouse  carried  out  his  mission 
with  skill,  and  overcame  the  difficulties  of  navigation  in  these 
icv  regions.  lie  reconciled  the  duties  of  a  soldier  and  those 
of  humanity  by  giving  supplies  and  arms  to  the  Knglish,  who 
had  taken  shelter  in  the  woods  on  his  approach,  and  who 
were  there  in  danger  of  starvation. 

In  1785  he  started  on  a  trip  around  the  world,  with  the 
frigates  the  Bomsolc  and  the  Astrolabe  and  a  hundred  men 
in  the  crews.  It  is  well  known  how  he  was  lost  on  the 
north  shore  of  the  Island  of  Vanikoro. 


PKTITOT,  officer  of  the  regiment  of  Champagne ;  was  pres 
ent  at  the  capture  of  Grenada  and  at  the  naval  action. 


198  The  French  in  America. 

PEYRELONGUE  (De),  infantry  officer ;  wounded  at  the  naval 
action  of  Grenada. 

PICHEGRU  (Charles),  born  at  Arbois  the  16th  of  Febru 
ary,  1761,  of  little-known  parents,  studied  there,  and  showed 
a  turn  for  the  mathematical  sciences.  Enlisted  very  young 
in  the  first  regiment  of  artillery,  where  his  good  conduct  and 
his  education  caused  him  to  be  appointed  sergeant  soon  after 
wards.  He  was  sent  to  America,  where  he  noticed  with  great 
benefit  all  the  relations  between  the  navy  and  the  siege  troops. 
He  was  going  to  be  made  an  officer  when  the  Revolution 
broke  out.  He  adopted  the  new  ideas,  and  was  put  at  the 
head  of  a  battalion  from  the  Var.  One  of  his  contempo 
raries  says  of  him  : 

"  Pichegru  is  five  feet  five  inches  high  ;  he  is  very  solidly 
built,  without  being  fat.  His  constitution  is  very  strong ;  in 
other  words,  he  is  cut  out  for  a  man  of  war.  His  face  at 
first  is  severe,  but  it  softens  down  in  conversation,  and  in 
spires  great  confidence.  His  politeness  does  not  resemble  that 
which  is  called  of  etiquette,  which  is  ordinarily  only  duplicity 
and  deceit.  His  own  is  without  affectation.  One  sees  that 
he  is  genuinely  obliging  and  by  nature  kind,  but  he  has 
none  of  that  which  formerly  made  courtiers  succeed. 

"  I  do  not  know  his  family.  From  what  he  has  himself 
told  me  it  is  neither  illustrious  nor  rich.  But  men  of  true 
worth  do  not  need  the  help  of  their  ancestors  to  seem  great. 
Like  those  luminous  meteors  whose  causes  we  ignore,  but 
which  leave  us  charmed  with  admiration,  even  after  they 
have  disappeared,  Pichegru  needs  neither  ancestors  nor  de 
scendants;  he  forms  alone  his  entire  race.  We  have  shaken 
off  the  prejudices  of  a  nobility  of  birth,  and  we  only  recog 
nize  personal  nobility.  Nothing  is  more  sensible,  for  as  it  is 
no  use  to  a  blind  man  for  his  parents  to  have  had  good 
eyes,  so  it  must  be  very  useless  to  a  coward  and  a  scamp  to 
have  had  virtuous  parents. 


List  of  Officers.  199 

"  Pichcgru  made  his  first  studies  at  the  College  of  Arbois, 
and  studied  his  philosophy  at  the  Minimes285  in  that  little 
town.  Having  passed  a  special  examination,  and  showing  a 
strong  turn  for  the  exact  sciences,  the  Minimes  advised  him 
to  repeat  his  course  in  philosophy  and  mathematics  at  the 
college  they  had  at  Brienne.  He  went  there,  not  only  to 
strengthen  himself  in  the  knowledge  he  already  had,  but  to 
teach  it  to  others.  This  is  what  has  made  some  think  that 
Pichcgru  had  been  a  Mini  me,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 

"  In  teaching  mathematics  to  others  Pichegru  had  improved 
himself  in  that  science.  He  enlisted  in  the  first  regiment  of 
artillery.  The  officers  of  that  corps  were  not  long  in  finding 
out  that  the  young  man  had  valuable  knowledge  in  the  art 
of  the  artillery.  They  appointed  him  sergeant.  One  knows 
that  that  was  then  a  great  gift  to  make  to  a  plebeian,  and 
that  it  was  the  ultimatum  of  his  advancement,  because  the 
nobility  was  as  exclusive  as  the  Jacobins.  The  Revolution 
came  on  ;  Pichegru,  without  seeing  much  of  the  proconsuls, 
whom  lu;  did  not  esteem,  was  known  to  them,  and  he  rose 
rank  by  rank  to  the  generalship  of  three  great  armies,  and 
he  led  them  a.s  well  as  if  he  had  been  taken  from  the  thigh  of 
Jupiter,  7io,sr,  Fabert,  Chevertj  Laubanie,  Jeun-Bartj  Duguay- 
Tromny  should  have  proved  to  the  French  nobilitv  that  mili 
tary  talent  needs  no  genealogy,  but  that  caste  lias  always  been 
inexorable  on  that  article.  Proof  that  it  preferred  its  privi 
leges  to  the  welfare  of  the  State.  We  have  had  the  experience 
that  this  mania  is  inherent  to  the  species.  Our  dirty 
culottes  were  as  intolerant  as  the  nobles.7' 2S6 


^Minimes.  A  religious  order  founded  in  the  fifteenth  century  by 
Saint  Francis  of  Paule  in  Calabria  (Francesco  Martorillo,  whom  Louis 
the  Eleventh  sent  for,  to  pray  for  him  in  his  last  illness).  Lltdr. 
E.  S.  B. 

286  llixtoirf  Chronologifjue  dcx  operations  de  Vanncc  du  Xord.  et  de  edit'  de 
Sambre-et-Meuse  (March,  1794-95),  taken  from  the  books  and  orders  of 
the  two  armies,  by  the  Citizen  Da  rid,  a  witness  of  most  of  their  ex 
ploits.  Paris,  no  date. 


200  The  French  in  America. 

PIERRE  (La),  private  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  in  1746, 
officer  in  1770;  lieutenant  of  grenadiers  in  the  same  regiment 
during  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

PIGNOL  DE  ROCREUSE  (Gaspard-Jean-Joseph-Ollivier),  lieu 
tenant  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois,  was,  during  the  crossing, 
on  the  ship  the  Trois-Henriettes,  which  was  wrecked  in  1780. 
By  his  energy  and  his  courage  he  saved  from  death  one 
hundred  and  eighty  men  of  the  two  hundred  whom  he  was 
commanding:. 


•;-*• 


PISANCON,  secretary  of  Blanchard,  a  Freemason,  who  with 
de  Jumecourt  was  sponsor  for  Blanchard  when  he  entered  an 
American  lodge  at  Providence,  on  the  7th  of  February,  1781. 


re- 


PLANCHER,  lieutenant  in  the  royal  corps  of  engineers  ; 
ceived  a  pension  after  the  campaign. 

PLESSIS  DE  MAUDUIT  (Du).     See  MAUDUIT. 

PLEVILLE  LE  PELEY  (Georges-Rene),  admiral,  born  at 
Granville  the  26th  of  June,  1726  ;  died  at  Paris  on  the  2d 
of  October,  1805.  He  ran  away  from  college  at  the  age  of 
twelve,  and  embarked  at  Havre  as  ship's  boy  under  the  name 
of  Du  Vivier.  After  having  gone  fishing  for  cod,  he  was 
employed  as  lieutenant  on  a  privateer  from  Havre.  Meeting 
two  English  ships,  with  whom  he  fought  a  sharp  action,  he 
lost  his  right  leg  and  was  made  prisoner  in  1746.  On  his 
return  to  France  he  sailed  on  the  Argonaute,  commanded  by 
de  Tilly  le  Pele,  his  uncle  ;  but  he  was  captured  again  by 
the  English  in  1756,  on  the  Mercure,  which  was  part  of  the 
fleet  of  the  Duke  d'Anville.  A  cannon  ball  carried  off  his 
wooden  leg  during  the  action.  He  fell,  then  rose,  laughing 
and  saying  :  "  The  ball  has  made  a  mistake ;  it  has  only 
given  work  to  the  carpenter."  In  1759,  he  commanded  the 


List  of  Officers.  201 

y  of  fourteen  guns,  and  caused  three  vessels  stronger 
than  his  own  to  strike.  His  wooden  leg  was  again  carried 
away  in  this  action.  On  account  of  his  health  he  was  given 
service  in  port.  He  commanded  at  Marseilles  in  1770.  He 
saved  from  a  tempest,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  the  English 
frigate  Alarm,  Captain  Jervis,  since  Lord  Saint-Vincent.  Ple- 
ville  had  himself  tied  to  a  rope,  and  went  on  board  of  the 
ship  in  distress.  The  English  Admiralty  sent  him,  for  this 
deed  of  bravery  and  generosity,  some  important  presents, 
which  Jervis  handed  to  him  himself. 

In  1778  he  embarked  on  the  Languedoc,  and  served  through 
the  American  war  under  the  orders  of  Count  d'Estaing.  He 
received  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

He  remained  on  the  side  of  the  Revolution,  but  served 
only  in  the  administration.  In  June,  17^7,  he  was  minister 
plenipotentiary  at  the  Congress  of  Lille,  and  in  July  lie  re 
placed  Truguet  in  the  ministry  of  the  navy.  His  health 
forced  him  to  resign  in  170S;  he  was  made  senator  in  IT-'*.*, 
and  grand  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  in  1804. 

PLUQUKT,  infantry  officer;  wounded  in  the  naval  action  oil' 
Grenada.287 

POIUEY,  secretary  of  do  La  Fayette.  "  He  is  getting  pretty 
well  used  to  the  life  of  a  soldier,"  says  La  Fayette  in  his 
memoirs. 

POLERESKI  or  SOLERSKI,  Polish  officer,  who  crossed  on  the 
Gloirc  in  1782  with  de  Segur  and  de  Broglie.288 

POXDEVAUX  (De),  commanded  the  feigned  assault  on  the 
Morne,  at  the  capture  of  Grenada,  under  d'Estaing,  the  6th 
of  July,  177'^.  His  column  consisted  of  two  hundred  men 

287  L.  15. 

ipt  of  de  Broglie,  also  Dupetit-Thouars. 


202  The  French  in  America. 

of  the  regiments  of  Champagne,   Viennois,   Martinique,   and 
legion  of  Lauzun. 

PONTEVES  D'EYROUX.     See  EYROUX. 

PONTEVES— GIEN  (Henri-Jean-Baptiste,  Viscount  de),  sailor, 
born  in  1740.  Came  from  the  family  of  the  Ponteves  de 
Carces ;  entered  the  navy,  distinguished  himself  in  several 
actions  against  the  English,  and  received  the  position  of  ma 
jor-general  in  the  marines,  at  Brest.  Decorated  with  the 
order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

Appointed  chief  of  squadron  in  1790,  he  served  under  the 
command  of  Count  de  Vaudreuil,  who  sent  him  to  destroy 
the  English  establishments  on  the  Gambia  and  at  Sierra 
Leone.  He  captured  seven  hundred  prisoners,  seventy-six 
guns  arid  fourteen  ships.  Appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
station  of  the  Antilles,  he  died,  before  Martinique,  of  an  epi 
demic  fever  on  the  ship  the  lllustre,  the  23d  of  July,  1799. 

PONTGIBAUD  (Count  de  More",  Chevalier  de),  born  at  Pont- 
gibaud,  Auvergne,  the  21st  of  April,  1758,  was  a  younger 
son  and  as  such  not  well  off.  Shut  up  by  a  lettre  de  cachet 
in  the  castle  of  Pierre-en-Cise,  near  Lyons,  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  at  the  instance  of  his  stepmother,  who  was  too  se 
vere  with  him,  he  escaped  in  1777,  giving  thus  a  proof  of 
his  decision  and  his  energy.  He  made  use  of  his  liberty  to 
join  his  countryman,  de  La  Fayette,  who  had  just  left  for 
America.  After  his  father's  anger  had  subsided,  he  received 
from  him  an  allowance  of  a  hundred  louis,  and  then  em 
barked  at  Nantes  on  the  Arc-en- del.  The  passage  took  sixty- 
seven  days  and  terminated  in  the  capture  of  the  little  French 
vessel,  which  had  stranded  at  the  mouth  of  the  James  River, 
within  shot  of  the  English  ship  Isis  of  sixty-four  guns. 

De  Pontgibaud  succeeded  in  escaping,  and  went  immedi 
ately  to  Williamsburg  to  Governor  Jefferson,  who  gave  him 


List  of  Officers.  203 

a  sort  of  passport  to  go  to  Valley  Forge,  where  La  Fayette 
was  encamped.  Finally,  after  a  most  arduous  journey,  in 
an  unknown  country,  all  forest  and  sand,  whose  rare  inhabit 
ants  spoke  a  language  he  did  not  understand,  de  Pontgibaud 
reached  La  Fayette  in  the  beginning  of  November,  1777. 
La  Fayette  received  him  with  kindness,  and,  touched  by  his 
youth  and  the  story  of  his  adventures,  enlisted  him  as  volun 
teer  on  the  5th  of  November,  1777,  and  soon  made  him  his 
aid-de-camp,  in  which  position  he  introduced  him  to  Wash 
ington. 

He  returned  to  France  on  the  Alliance  with  dc  J^a  Fayette 
and  Mauduit  Duplessis  in  January,  177«).  He  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  his  family,  and  received  in  April  from  the  king 
a  commission  of  captain  in  waiting,  for  which  he  did  not 
have  to  pay  the  brevet  price  of  seven  thousand  tivrcs. 

While  La  Fayette  was  returning  to  America  on  the  Aif/le, 
Captain  de  la  Touche-Treville,  de  Pontgibaud  embarked  once 
more  on  the  Alliance  with  Captain  Landais,  who  went  mad 
during  the  passage.289  Two  American  commissaries  were  on 
this  frigate. 

After  having  helped  his  general  at  the  siege  of  Yorktmvn 
he  returned  to  France.  He  was  on  the  Arid,  a  fast  ship, 
commanded  by  his  friend  de  Cupcllis,  and  which  had  been 
captured  by  the  squadron  of  the  Count  d'Estaing.  Still, 
they  took  fifty-six  days  to  reach  Corunna,  in  Spain.  During 
the  passage  the  Ariel  captured  the  English  ship  Dublin. 

De  Pontgibaud  emigrated  with  his  family  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Revolution.  He  was  completely  ruined,  and  learnt 
just  then  that  Congress  was  paying  off,  with  interest,  the  pay 
of  all  the  officers  who  had  served  during  the  war.  He  em 
barked  at  once  at  Hamburg  for  Philadelphia,  where  he  re 
ceived  immediately  and  with  no  trouble  the  sum  of  fifty 


289 See  Vol.   I.,  page    120,  and   in    the  List  of  Officers:   Paul   Jones, 
note  215. 


204  The  French  in  America. 

thousand  francs.  He  was,,  with  his  brother  and  his  nephew, 
one  of  the  five  hundred  and  thirty-six  gentlemen  who  be 
longed  to  the  Coalition  of  Auvergne,  which  was  intended  to 
deliver  the  king  from  his  prison.290 

He  returned  to  his  elder  brother,  who,  having  sacrificed 
all  his  fortune  in  trying  to  save  the  king,  had  succeeded  in 
founding  in  Trieste  a  mercantile  house  under  the  name  of 
Joseph  La  Brosse.  This  establishment  succeeded  on  account 
of  the  confidence  that  its  director  inspired.  He  had  gathered 
round  him  some  of  his  old  comrades  in  war.  Among  these 
was  the  Marquis  de  Mac-Mahon  and  several  other  meritorious 
officers. 

The  Count  de  More  published  his  Memoir es  in  1828. 

1  desire  to  publish  here  two  letters  which  I  have  received 
from  one  of  his  descendants  : 

ROME,  this  20th  of  December,  1869. 

SIR  : — It  is  I,  who  am  to-day,  as  you  thought,  the  representa 
tive  of  the  name  and  of  the  collateral  descent  of  M.  Charles 
Albert,  Count  de  More,  younger  brother  of  the  Count  de  Pont- 
gibaud,  my  grandfather,  and  formerly  called  the  Chevalier  de 
Pontgibaud.  We  had  the  sorrow  to  lose  him  in  1839,  when  he 
was  about  reaching  his  eightieth  year,  after  a  green  old  age  still 
enlivened  by  the  remembrance  of  the  memorable  events  of  which 
he  had  been  the  bravest  witness  and  at  the  same  time  a  close 
observer.  We  have  often  regretted  that  his  memoirs,  perfectly 
exact  from  the  historical  point  of  view,  and  inexact  only  in  a  few 
details  relating  to  his  elder  brother,  had  not  brought  out  many 
small  points  which  he  excelled  in  telling  about,  and  which  were 
the  delight  of  my  younger  years.  No  one  united  in  conversation 
a  quicker  wit  to  a  more  delicate  courtesy ;  he  was  the  type  of  the 
French  chevalier  of  the  Old  Regime.  His  bravery  was  always 
ready  to  serve  the  cause  which  he  thought  just  and  his  cordiality 
had  no  limits.  He  often  said  that  Providence  had  done  him  a 
great  service  in  giving  to  his  face  a  certain  appearance  of  sever- 

290  See  Vol.  I.,  page  16. 


List  of  Officers.  205 

ity,  "  for,"  he  said,  "  without  my  appearance  of  stiffness,  what 
would  become  of  my  purse/'  Therefore  he  had  friends,  numer 
ous  and  devoted,  in  all  ranks  of  society. 

General  Washington,  who  had  seen  him  at  work,  always  hon 
ored  him  with  his  kindest  friendship.  Despite  the  divergence  of 
political  opinions  which  separated  him  from  General  La  Fayette, 
they  remained  bound  in  a  close  friendship,  and  during  the  revo 
lutions  which  agitated  the  old  world,  they  more  than  once  re 
gretted  the  happy  days  of  their  expedition  to  the  new  world. 

During  half  a  century  the  Count  de  More  held  in  France  a 
distinguished  position  in  society.  He  had  wedded  the  only 
daughter  of  Marshal  de  Vaux,  widow  of  the  Count  de  Fougiere, 
and  who  was,  before  the  Revolution,  one  of  the  ladies  of  honor 
of  her  Royal  Highness  Madame  la  Comtesse  de  Provence. 

The  qualities  of  the  warrior  had  not  excluded  from  him  those 
of  the  writer.  His  private  letters  might  have  been  used  to  com 
plete  contemporary  history,  of  which  he  knew  how  to  bring  out 
the  principal  points  with  remarkable  truth.  He  had  written  anon 
ymously  different  comedies  which  were  given  on  the  theatres  of 
Paris.  The  fineness  of  the  allusions  sometimes  gave  them  a  bril 
liant  vogue.  But  he  would  never  make  any  profession  of  being 
a  literary  man,  so  as  not  to  damage  the  profession  of  warrior. 
Therefore  it  was  said  jokingly,  there  were  sometimes  fusees  ex 
ploded  in  his  knapsack.  He  carried  to  the  highest  degree  the 
affection  for  his  family,  and  when  he  had  lost  the  faithful  com 
panion  of  his  long  career,  he  wished  to  finish  his  life  near  his 
nephew,  whom  he  looked  on  still  as  the  head  of  the  family.'291 
He  had  been  made  chevalier  of  the  order  of  Saint-Louis,  and 
felt  an  especial  honor  in  the  decoration  of  the  order  of  the  Cin 
cinnati,  which  he  had  received  at  the  time  when  that  order  only 
numbered  fifty  members. 

I  am  the  oldest  of  his  great  nephews ;  it  has  been  given  to  me 
to  carry  out  one  of  his  wishes  by  restoring  in  Auvergne  the  fam 
ily  mansion  where  he  was  born.  While  waiting  for  this  restoration 

291  Armand-Victor  de  More,  Count  de  Pontgibaud,  peer  of  France 
under  the  Restauration,  who  made  in  France  notable  changes  in  the 
working  of  metallurgical  deposits,  and  the  work  begun  by  whom  still 
remains  in  the  mountains  of  Auvergne.  See  in  the  Times  the  Mines 
of  Pontgibaud  quoted  every  day  at  the  London  Exchange. 


206  The  French  in  America. 

to  be  completed,  I  have  taken  up  my  residence  in  the  Manche, 
devoting  my  spare  time  to  the  cultivation  of  my  lands  and  to 
literature  and  art.  I  see  my  successors  growing  up  around  me, 
and  I  like  to  hope  that  they  will  inherit  some  of  the  rightminded- 
ness,  of  the  delightful  wit,  and  of  the  bravery  of  he  who  was  their 
great  uncle. 

Please  accept,  sir,  with  my  most  sincere  thanks  for  your  gracious 
letter,  the  assurance  of  my  distinguished  sentiments. 

THE  COUNT  DE  PONTGIBAUD, 

Member  of  the  General  Council  of  the  Department  of  the  Manche. 

P.  S. — I  shall  be  much  obliged  if  you  will  let  me  know  when 
your  interesting  work  has  appeared. 

CHATEAU  DE  FONTENAY,  NEAR  MONTEBOURG  (MANCHE), 

the  1st  of  May,  1870. 

Please  accept,  sir,  all  my  thanks  for  the  article  relating  to  the 
memoirs  of  the  Count  de  More,  my  great  uncle.  It  gives  a  true 
idea  of  his  style  and  of  his  character,  but  I  must  point  out  to  you 
a  slight  inexactitude  from  a  genealogical  standpoint.  The  Count 
de  More  had  married,  as  his  second  wife,  the  Countess  de  Fougiere, 
daughter  of  Marshal  de  Vaux  ;  it  is  one  of  my  cousins  of  the 
Gevaudan  who  married  into  the  family  of  Chaulnes.  Finally,  I  am 
not  the  only  representative  of  the  family  of  Pontgibaud,  but  only 
the  head  of  the  house,  being  the  oldest  of  three  brothers,  of  whom 
one  was  killed  by  the  enemy  at  Solferino,  leaving  a  son  not  of  age, 
and  the  other,  counsellor-general  in  Maine-et-Loire,  has  been  one 
of  the  most  active  propagators  of  the  best  agricultural  processes  as 
applied  in  that  region. 

I  am  glad  to  find  a  fresh  occasion  to  offer  to  you,  sir,  the  ex 
pression  of  my  distinguished  and  grateful  sentiments. 

THE  COUNT  DE  PONTGIBAUD. 

PONTHIERE  (De),  enlisted  as  volunteer,  brevet  captain  of 
cavalry  the  18th  of  February,  177S,2U2  the  same  as  Louis  du 
Pontier,  captain  in  the  service  of  Congress.293 

292  Auberteuil. 

293  Records,  &c. 


List  of  Officers.  207 

POQUET     DE     PUYLERY     DE      SAINT  -  SAUVEUR      (Mathieil- 

Louis),  born  in  1750  at  Martinique;  lieutenant  of  Agenois 
in  1770;  captain  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  chest  at  Savannah,  and  in  the  thigh  during 
the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

PORTAIL  (Le  Begue  du).     See  DUPORTAIL. 

POUDEUX  or  POUDENS  (Henri-Franyois  Liemart,  Viscount 
de),  born  at  Paris  in  1748.  Served  since  1700;  captain  in 
1708,  mextre  dc  c(nnj)  in  1774,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
Touraine  the  17th  of  April,  1780;  was  present  at  the  siege 
of  Yorktown. 

PREVAL  (Claude-Antoine,  Chevalier  de),  born  at  Salins ; 
died  the  13th  of  January,  1808,  at  Besancon.  Entered  as 
volunteer  the  regiment  of  Enghien  ;  served  in  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  and  in  two  campaigns  in  America;  captain  in  17* Jo; 
brigadier-general  for  his  good  conduct  at  Landau. 

PREVAL  A  YE  (Pierre-Bernardin,  Marquis  de  la),  born  at  the 
Chateau  of  la  Prevalaye  in  1745;  died  at  the  same  Chateau 
the  28th  of  July,  1810.  Showed  as  much  courage  as  talent 
in  the  war  in  North  America,  and  received  after  the  war  the 
rank  of  naval  captain,  with  the  decorations  of  Saint-Louis 
and  of  the  Cincinnati.  In  1783  he  was  intrusted  by  the 
French  Government  to  carry  to  America  the  treaty  which 
assured  to  the  United  States  their  independence,  lie  returned 
to  Paris  to  serve  in  the  Council  of  the  Xavy ;  emigrated 
in  17UO,  and  served  in  the  army  of  Comic.  Reprieved 
during  the  Consulate,  he  lived  in  retreat  until  the  Bour 
bons  withdrew  him  from  it  by  appointing  him  rear-admiral. 
He  left  a  Memoire  Sur  la  Campagne  de  Boston  en  1778,  in 
folio. 


208  The  French  in  America. 

PULASKI  (Casimir,  Count  de),  born  at  "Winiary  in  Lithu 
ania,  the  4th  of  March,  1748;294  had  studied  law,  but  was 
turned  therefrom  by  the  military  events.  He  took  part  in 
the  revolt  of  his  country  against  Stanislas  in  1769,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  active  members  of  the  Confederation  of  Bar.295 
After  his  father  had  been  captured  and  executed,  he  was  put 
at  the  head  of  the  insurrection,  but  soon  had  to  take  refuge 
in  Turkey,  where  he  entered  the  service  against  Russia.296  His 
property  was  confiscated,  and  he  came  to  Paris,  where  he  had 
an  interview  with  Franklin.  He  then  decided  to  start  for 
America.  He  embarked  at  Marseilles  in  1775.  He  rejoined 
the  army  of  Washington,  and  was  put  in  command  of  a  corps 
of  cavalry.  His  legion  rendered  great  services.  It  was  sur 
prised  at  Egg  Harbor  by  the  English  and  partly  destroyed. 

294  Life  of  Frederick  the  Great,  by  Thomas  Carlyle,  Tauchnitz  edition, 
1865,  XIII.,  pages  92,  93,  94,  95,  for  the  defense  of  Kloster  Czenstochow, 
Several  authors  spell  Pulawski,  but  they  mistake  two  different  families. 
One  comes  from  Pulazie,  from  which  come  the  Pulaskis,  and  the  other 
are  natives  of  Pulawy,  whence  the  Pulawski.    The  first  alone  became 
celebrated,  after  the  Confederation  of  Bar.    They  were  seven  in  num 
ber:  Joseph,  his  three  sons,  Casimir,  Francois  and  Antoine,  and  his  three 
nephews.    I  have  to  consider  here  only  Casimir. 

295  He  was  the  terror  of  the  Russians,  whom  he  astonished  and  sur 
prised  by  the  rapidity  of  his  marches.    In  1770  he  shut  himself  in  the 
fort  of  Czenstochow,  where  he  repulsed  all  attacks.     He  tried  to  carry 
off  the  King  of  Poland  the  3d  of  November,  1771,  but  the  plotters  did 
not  succeed.    They  were  declared  regicides,  and  Pulaski  was  obliged  to 
fly  in  1772,  after  the  Russians  had  carried  out  the  partition  of  Poland. 

^Marshal  of  Terre  de  Lozma,  in  the  Palatinate  of  Mazowie,  in 
1768 ;  military  chief  of  the  Confederation  of  Bar  from  1769  to  1772  ; 
general  of  cavalry  under  the  orders  of  Washington  in  1777 ;  command 
ing  the  foreign  legion  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  in  1779. 
Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

A  cutting  from  the  Philadelphia  Press,  of  January  29th,  1875,  says 
of  a  miniature  of  Pulaski  in  the  author's  possession :  "  Mr.  Thomas 
Balch,  whose  investigations  into  the  antecedents  of  the  French  parti 
sans  of  the  American  cause  during  the  Revolution  are  well  known,  has 
deposited  in  the  National  Museum  a  fine  original  miniature  of  Count 
Pulaski,  a  gentleman  who,  having  fought  for  the  independence  of  his 
own  country,  tendered  his  services  to  Congress  in  1777,  was  appointed 


List  of  Officers.  209 

Lieutenant-colonel  Baron  de  Botzen  was  killed  there.  In 
1779  Pulaski  was  serving  under  the  orders  of  Lincoln  at 
the  siege  of  Savannah,  and  was  mortally  wounded  there  the 
9th  of  October,  1779.  His  companion  and  friend,  Lieutenant 
Charles  Litomski,  buried  him  at  the  foot  of  a  large  tree,  on 
the  Island  of  Saint  Helena.297 

La  Fayette  says  of  him,  while  speaking  of  the  battle  of 
Germantown,  that  he  was  a  brave  knight,  devout  and  dissi 
pated,  better  captain  than  general.  But  these  judgments, 
given  by  officers  who  were  generally  jealous  of  one  another, 
are  liable  to  be  inaccurate. 

FUSION  AN  (De),  lieutenant  of  artillery,  regiment  of  Aux- 
onne ;  wounded  before  Yorktown  in  the  sortie  which  the 
English  made  upon  the  batteries  on  the  left,  during  the  night 
of  the  15th  to  the  16th  of  Octolxjr,  178 1.298 


Q. 

QUERENET  DE  LA  COMBE  (Do)  made  the  campaign  with  the 
expeditionary  corps  in  the  position  of  colonel-under-brigadier 
in  the  corps  of  engineers.  He  contributed  greatly  to  the  cap 
ture  of  Yorktown,  and  received  a  pension  after  the  campaign. 

brigadier-general,  and  given  the  command  of  the  cavalry.  He  fell 
mortally  wounded,  gallantly  fighting  for  the  cause  of  American  inde 
pendence,  in  the  assault  upon  Savannah.  The  identical  bullet  which 
caused  his  death  was  extracted  by  a  physician  whose  son  now  resides 
on  Chestnut  Hill,  and  who  still  cherishes  the  deadly  missile,  and  who 
will,  we  presume,  place  it  on  deposit  during  the  Centennial  with  the 
portrait.  The  above  miniature  was  painted  by  Froissard  jeune,  and 
possesses  additional  interest  for  Americans  from  the  fact  that  it  repre 
sents  him  in  his  uniform  as  commander  of  the  American  cavalry, 
while  the  familiar  Chodzko  portrait  was  taken  earlier  in  life,  and  in 
his  uniform  as  a  Polish  general."  E.  S.  B. 

297  The  gratitude  of  the  Americans  made  them  erect  a  monument  to 
Pulaski,  of  which  the  tirst  stone  was  laid  by  La  Fayette  in  1824. 

298  Berthier. 


210  The  French  in  America. 

QU£ROUHANT  (De),  whose  name  should  perhaps  be  spelled 
KEROUAN,  infantry  officer,  wounded  at  Saint  Lucia,  under 
Guichen. 

QTJESNAY  DE  BEAUREPAIRE,  grandson  of  the  well-known 
political  economist  Quesnay,  entered  first  the  gendarmes  of  the 
guard  of  the  king,  and  on  the  remodeling  of  this  regiment 
went  to  America.  "Carried  away,"  he  says,  "by  a  glow 
ing  hope  of  distinguishing  myself  in  the  profession  of  arms, 
I  went  to  serve  in  Virginia  during  the  years  1777  and  1778, 
with  the  rank  of  captain ;  but  the  loss  of  my  baggage,  that 
of  my  letters  of  recommendation,  mislaid  in  the  offices  of  Gov 
ernor  Patrick  Henry,  to  whom  I  had  intrusted  them,  finally  a 
long  and  painful  illness,  together  with  a  lack  of  funds  at 
this  great  distance  from  home,  forced  me  to  give  up  the  career 
of  arms."299'300 

He  had  traveled  over  the  United  States  in  all  directions. 
Sir  John  Peyton,301  touched  by  his  ill  fortune,  with  great  kind 
ness,  took  him  to  his  house,  and  made  him  live  there  for 
nearly  two  years,  while  awaiting  assistance  from  his  home, 
giving  him  all  the  time  proofs  of  great  friendship. 

299  Memoires,  Statuts  et  Prospectus  sur  I' Academic  des  Sciences  et  Beaux- 
Arts  d'Amtrique,  Paris,  1788,  page  19. 

300  M.  Reboul,  librarian  at  Albi,  France,  wrote  a  letter  in  June,  1892, 
to  my  brother,  about  Les  Fran$ais  en  Amerique,  in  which  he  said :  "  The 
only  thing  I  can  certify  to  is  the  general  infatuation  of  the  aristocracy 
at  that  time  for  the  American  cause,  which  went  so  far  as  to  give  Amer 
ican   names  to  the   servants  of  good  families.    Thus,  my  mother  has 
spoken  to  me  of  the  valet  of  my  grandfather,  the  Count  de  Sampigny? 
the  only  one  who  remained  faithful  to  him  during  the  Terror,  and  whom 
he  only  spoke  of  by  the  name  of  Boston,  having  entirely  forgotten  his 
family  name."     E.  8.  B. 

301  He  was  called  Sir  John  Peyton,  but  was  not  a  real  baronet.    A  de 
scendant  of  his,  Colonel   Jesse  Enlows  Peyton,  of  Haddonfield,  New 
Jersey,  was  the  proposer  and  organizer  of  the  centennial  celebration  of 
the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  which  took  place  at  Yorktown  on  October 
the  19th,  1881,  and  at  which  some  of  the  descendants  of  the  French  offi 
cers — the  Marquis  de  Eochambeau  among  others — were  present.    E.  S.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  211 

During  the  whole  time  of  his  sojourn  with  Peyton,  the 
house  of  that  good  man,  as  well  as  those  of  different  mem 
bers  of  his  family,  seemed  to  him  refuges  for  oppressed  and 
unfortunate  strangers.  He  mentions  the  sons-in-law  of  Pey 
ton  :  Traeher,  Washington,  Throgmorton,  John  Dixon,  Tabb 
and  Boiling.  He  speaks  also  of  the  generosity  of  the  de 
ceased  Colonel  Samuel  Washington,  brother  of  the  General ; 
of  John  Page,  Whiting,  Perin,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fontaine,  Willis, 
Hubard,  Xutal. 

He  says  in  his  work  already  mentioned  :  "  If  part  of  the 
Americans  have  a  poor  opinion  of  Frenchmen  in  general,  it 
is  because  they  judge  from  a  few  adventurers  who  have  come 
to  America." 

He  helped  to  found  an  Academy  of  Sciences  and  Fine  Arts 
at  Richmond.  This  academy,  which  gained  rapidly  in  im 
portance,  was  inaugurated  the  24th  of  June,  1780,  and  Ques- 
nay  de  Beaurepaire  was  appointed  president. 


QUETTEVILLE  (De).302 
QUINART.303 


R 


RADIKRE  (De  la),  was  engaged  in  1777,  with  Duportail, 
Laumoy  and  Gouvion,  by  Franklin,  who  had  been  intrusted 
witli  a  mission  to  engage  engineers.  They  were  all  four,  of 
ficers  of  engineers,  and  received  permission  from  the  French 
Government  to  enter  the  service  in  America.  "  They  left  on 
the  same  ship  as  La  Fayette."  304 

On  his  arrival  on  the  2i)th  of  July,  1777,  de  la  Kadierc 
was  appointed  engineer  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel, 
then  colonel  on  the  17th  of  November.  He  died  in  service.30'5 

803  L.  B.,  262. 

803  L.  B.,  262. 

804  Mhnolres  of  de   Segur. 

806  Died  at  West  Point  late  in  1779.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


212  The  French  in  America. 

RAFFIN,  officer  of  infantry,  wounded  in  the  action  off 
Grenada.306 

REBOTJRQUIL  DE  FALQUERETTE  DE  SAINT-FELIX.  See 
FALQUERETTE. 

REQTJIER  DE  Rossi,  lieutenant-colonel,  July  the  12th,  1777. 

RIBEAUPIERRE  (Charles-Roger  de),  born  in  1752 ;  entered, 
in  1778,  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  as  sub-lieuten 
ant  of  chasseurs.  Received  a  reward  for  his  services  before 
Yorktown. 

RICCI  (Count  de),  left  Rochefort  on  the  Aigle  with  de 
Segur,  de  Broglie  and  others,  and  accompanied  them  in  South 
America. 

RICOL  (P.),  captain  of  the  Vengeance. 

RIONS  (Franyois-Hector  d7  Albert,  Count  de),  born  at  Avig 
non  in  1728,  died  the  3d  of  October,  1802 ;  entered,  as  guard, 
the  marines  in  1743  in  the  company  of  Rochefort;  ensign 
in  1748.  He  was  naval  lieutenant  on  the  Foudroyant  when 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English  in  the  battle  of  the  28th 
of  February,  1758.  After  having  served  in  the  infantry  and 
the  artillery  of  the  navy,  he  was  appointed  naval  captain  the 
24th  of  March,  1772,  and  was  present,  under  the  orders  of 
d'Estaing,  at  the  attack  on  Saint  Lucia  in  1778,  and  at  the 
two  combats  of  Grenada  in  1779.  During  the  American 
war  he  commanded  the  Pluton  in  1781-1782,  and  was  pres 
ent  at  the  capture  of  Tabago  and  at  the  actions  of  Fort 
Royal,  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  of  Saint  Christopher  and  of  Do 
minica.  His  brilliant  services  were  rewarded  by  the  grand 

306  L.  B.,  106. 


List  of  Officers.  213 

cross  of  Saint-Louis  in  1784,  and  the  position  of  naval  com 
mander  at  Toulon  in  1785.  A  revolt  having  broken  out  in 
that  town  on  the  1st  of  December,  1789,  he  was  beaten  and 
insulted  by  the  furious  population,  who  threw  him  into  a 
dungeon  with  a  former  convict.  The  National  Assembly,  on 
the  10th  of  January,  1790,  passed  a  decree  which  freed  him, 
without  doing  him  the  justice  which  was  his  due.  Called  af 
terwards  to  Rochefort  to  command  the  fleet  named  the  Ocean 
Fleet,  he  was  again  the  victim  of  a  revolt  which  the  publica 
tion  of  the  penal  code  produced.  He  resigned  from  his  posi 
tion.  Appointed  rear-admiral  in  1792,  he  emigrated  shortly 
afterwards,  and  took  part  the  same  year  in  the  campaign 
against  France  in  the  army  of  the  princes  ;  he  then  with 
drew  into  Dal  mat  ia.  Returning  to  France  under  the  Con 
sulate,  he  was  retired  with  a  pension  of  four  thousand  francs  ; 
he  only  enjoyed  it  one  year. 


307 


ROBILLARD,  surgeon-in-chief  of  the  expeditionary  corps. 


ROBIN  (L'Abbe),  chaplain  of  the  expeditionary  corps;  left 
an  interesting  account  of  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

RocHAMBEAU  (Jean-Baptiste- Donation  dc  Vimeur,  Count 
de),  born  at  Vendonie  in  172.").  His  father  was  Governor  of 
Vendome  and  lieutenant  of  the  marshals  of  France.  Roch- 
ambeau  was  first  intended  for  the  church,  and  was  about  to 
receive  the  tonsure  at  the  Jesuits  of  Blois,  when  news  came 
of  the  death  of  his  elder  brother.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1742, 
he  entered  as  cornet  the  cavalry  regiment  of  Saint-Simon,  with 
which  he  went  through  the  campaigns  of  Bohemia.  The  army 
reports  of  his  services  say  : 

1743,  23d  of  July,  captain. 

1740,  aid-de-camp  of  Louis-Philippe  d'Orleans. 

307  Dumas. 


214  The  French  in  America. 

1747,  4th  of  March,  colonel  of  the  infantry  regiment  of 
la  Marche.308  Wounded  at  the  battle  of  Laufeld. 

1755,  1st  of  June,  Governor  of  Vendome  after  the  death 
of  his  father. 

1756,  23d  of  July,  brigadier-general ;  sent  to  Minorca  under 
the  orders  of  Richelieu.     He  received  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis. 

1757,  1st   of  May,   employed   in    the   Army  of  Germany. 
Distinguished    himself  at  the  battle  of  Hastembeck,  then    at 
Creveldt,   Minden,    Forbach   and  Clostercamp,  where   he  was 
wounded  in  1760. 

1759,  7th  of  March,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Auvergne. 

1761,  20th  of  February,  mareehal  de  camp. 

1761,  7th  of  March,  inspector-general  of  the  infantry. 

1766,  1st  of  April,  commander  of  the  order  of  Saint-Louis. 

1771,  9th  of  December,  grand  cross  of  the  same  order. 

1776,  Governor  of  Yillefranche. 

1778,  1st  of  June,  employed  in  Normandy  and  Brittany 
in  the  army  corps  intended  to  invade  England. 

1780,  1st  of  March,  lieutenant-general  and  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  expeditionary  corps  sent  to  America.  He  em 
barked  at  Brest  on  the  Due  de  Bourgogne.  Here  his  history 
is  so  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the  expedition  that 
we  refer  the  reader  to  the  first  volume  for  the  account  of 
that  memorable  campaign.  He  returned  in  1782,  leaving  his 
army  under  the  orders  of  the  Baron  de  Viornenil  and  of  de 
Lauzun.  He  was  then  overwhelmed  with  favors,  received  the 
blue  ribbon  of  the  Saint-Esprit,  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati, 
and  was  appointed  to  the  government  of  Picardie  and  Artois. 

In  1791,  marshal  of  France;   intrusted  by  Louis  the  Six- 


308  He  had  become  aid-de-camp  of  the  Count  de  Clermont.  At  the 
siege  of  Namur,  sent  to  reconnoiter  the  place,  he  climbed  a  hill  on  which 
he  found  only  two  sentinels  quietly  smoking.  He  sent  at  once  word 
to  the  Count  de  Clermont,  who  made  an  attack  on  that  side,  and  Namur 
was  taken.  This  service  brought  him  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  distin 
guished  himself  also  at  the  siege  of  Maestricht.  After  peace  was  made 
he  married  Mademoiselle  Telles  d'Acosta,  in  1749. 


List  of  Officers.  215 

ieenth  with  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  North,  he  tried 
in  vain  to  establish  discipline  there  and  resigned  the  follow 
ing  year.  Condemned  to  death  under  the  Terror,  he  was 
about  to  mount  the  fatal  cart,  when  the  executioner,309  seeing 
it  was  full,  said  to  him  :  "  Withdraw,  old  marshal ;  thy  turn 
will  soon  come."  A  tradition  says  that  Andre  Chenier  then 
mounted  the  cart.  The  fall  of  Robespierre  saved  Rocham- 
beau. 

When  he  was  presented  to  the  First  Consul,  the  latter, 
pointing  out  Berthier,  Dumas  and  some  others  who  were  on 
his  staff,  said  to  him  :  "  Marshal,  here  are  your  pupils." 
"  The  pupils,"  answered  Rochambeau,  "  have  much  surpassed 
the  master."  In  1803,  Napoleon  made  him  grand  officer  of 
the  Legion  of  Honor  and  gave  him  a  pension.  He  died  in 
1807,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 

He  left  some  memoirs  which  I  have  often  mentioned. 

ROCHAMBEAU  (Donatien-Marie-Joseph  <le  Vimeur),  son  of 
the  former;  born  at  Paris  the  7th  of  April,  1755.  Although 
very  young,  he  entered  as  sub-lieutenant,  in  1709,  the  royal 
corps  of  artillery;  was  captain  in  1773;  incut  re  de  camp  en 
second  of  Bourbonnais  in  1779.  He  served  with  this  rank 
in  the  campaign  of  America  under  his  father,  but  the  latter 
only  speaks  of  him  as  of  a  stranger. 

After  the  interview  of  Hartford  between  Washington  and 
Rochambeau,  the  son  made  a  journey  to  France  at  his  own 
expense,  to  make  known  the  result  of  the  conference,  hasten 
the  departure  of  the  remainder  of  the  expeditionary  corps 
and  ask  for  new  succors.  He  started  on  the  17th  of  Octo 
ber,  1780,  on  the  frigate  the  Amazone,  commanded  by  La 
Perouse,  and  returned  on  the  Concorde  with  de  Barras  and 
Cromot  Dubourg,  in  April,  1781.  He  had  obtained  some 

m  It  is  said  that  this  man  had  been  one  of  Rochambeau's  sergeants. 
E.  8.  B. 


216  The  French  in  America. 

help  in  moneys  and  the  promise  of  the  co-operation  of  the 
Count  de  Grasse.  Arrived  before  Yorktown,  he  placed  the 
battalion  of  grenadiers  and  chasseurs  he  commanded,  so  close 
to  the  intrenchments  of  the  enemy,  that  the  latter,  without 
striking  a  blow,  abandoned  the  redoubt  of  Pigeon  Hill,  which 
was  immediately  occupied  by  Dumas  and  Charles  de  Lameth. 
On  the  return  of  the  expedition  he  was  decorated  with 
the  orders  of  Saint-Louis  and  of  the  Cincinnati,  and  was  ap 
pointed  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Royal-Auvergne.310  Mare- 
chal  de  camp  in  1791  ;  was  sent  to  Saint  Domingo  in  1792 
to  replace  de  Beliague,  commander  of  the  Windward  Islands. 
Sent  to  Martinique  in  1793,  he  drove  out  the  English 
and  de  Behague,  who  had  joined  them  with  the  Royalists; 
forced  recognition  there  of  the  Republican  Government ;  but, 
besieged  by  superior  forces,  had  to  surrender  in  1794.  He 
held  out  in  Saint  Pierre  during  forty-two  days  of  siege,  with 
six  hundred  men  against  fourteen  thousand.  On  his  return 
to  France  he  was  employed  for  some  time  in  the  Army  of 
Italy ;  but  he  soon  returned  to  Saint  Domingo  with  General 
Leclerc,  whom  he  replaced  at  his  death  on  the  2d  of  No 
vember,  1802.  Not  receiving  any  assistance,  he  was  obliged 
to  surrender  to  the  insurgents.  The  English  kept  him  pris 
oner  on  the  galleys  in  utter  disregard  of  agreements,  and  he 
only  recovered  his  freedom  in  1811.  He  went  as  general 
to  the  Army  of  Germany  in  1813,  and  was  killed  at  Leip 
zig,  where  he  was  commanding  a  division  of  the  fifth  corps, 
under  the  orders  of  Lauriston. 

ROCHEFERMOY  (Mathieu-Alexandre  de  La),  volunteer  in  the 
service  of  the  Americans  the  5th  of  November,  1776;  one  of 
the  first  to  enlist ;  was  appointed  brigadier-general  of  the 
Continental  army.  Resigned  on  the  31st  of  January,  1778, 
and  died  away  from  the  service. 

310  Gatinais. 


List  of  Officers.  217 

ROCHEFONTAINE  (Bichct  de),  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States ;  brevet  captain  of  engineers  the 
18th  of  September,  1778,  then  major  the  16th  of  November, 
1781.  Returned  after  the  peace  to  France,  and  was  employed 
as  captain  in  the  provincial  troops. 

ROCHEXEGLY  (Gabriel-Frai^ois  de  La),  born  in  1757  at 
Chamblay ;  entered  the  service  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais 
in  1770;  was  wounded  at  the  attack  of  the  intrenchments 
of  Savannah  ;  appointed  lieutenant  in  1779,  he  came  to  the 
siege  of  Yorktown,  and  was  made  prisoner  in  the  action  of 
the  6th  of  June,  1782,  on  the  Oiion. 

ROCHES  (Philippe-Henri  DCS),  born  at  Perigueux  in  1742; 
entered  as  officer  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  in  1762,  and 
served  at  Cayenne,  then  in  North  America.  He  was  decorated 
after  the  capture  of  Yorktown. 

ROGER  (Nicolas),  volunteer;  enlisted  the  loth  of  September, 
1777;  aid-de-camp  of  Ducoudray,  with  the  rank  of  major; 
lieutenant-colonel  the  16th  of  December,  177S.311  He  tried  in 
vain  to  save  Ducoudray  at  the  crossing  of  the  Schuylkill  by 
swimming  to  him. 

ROMA ix  (Jules),  born  at  Angers  about  1763  ;  guard  in  the 
marines  in  1778;  embarked  on  the  Vcnycirr,  which  belonged 
to  the  squadron  of  the  Count  de  Grasse,  in  1779.  He  was 
present  at  the  capture  of  Grenada  and  at  the  action  off  Sa 
vannah,  and  died  at  Martinique  on  his  return  from  tins  ex 
pedition.  Blanchard  was  a  relative  of  his,  and  speaks  of  him 
in  his  Journal™2 


11  Auberteuil. 

312  There  is  a  notice  about  this  interesting  young  man  in  the  book 
of  his  brother:  Souvenirs  <Vun  officlcr  royulistc,  by  M.  de  Remain,  former 
colonel  of  artillery.  Paris,  1824. 


218  The  French  in  America. 

ROMEFORT.     See  BAUDIN. 

RONCHANT,  grand-provost  of  the  expeditionary  corps ;  men 
tioned  by  Cromot  Dubourg  at  the  camp  of  Dobb's  Ferry,  and 
by  Blanchard. 

ROQUELAURE  (Chevalier  de),  an  ensign;  escaped  from  the 
wreck  of  the  Bourgogne™ 

ROSSEL  (Elisabeth-Paul-fCdouard,  Chevalier  de),  scientist 
and  French  sailor,  born  in  1765  at  Sens,  died  in  1829  at 
Paris.  His  father,  Colomban  de  Rossel,  marechal  de  camp, 
was  killed  at  Quiberoii  in  1795,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  and 
his  mother  perished  on  the  revolutionary  scaifold.  He  was 
brought  up  at  the  College  of  La  Fleche,  and  entered  the 
navy  in  1780  as  marine  guard.  Took  part  in  all  the  battles 
which  de  Grasse  fought  up  to  the  peace  of  1783.  He  served 
then  under  d'Entrecasteaux,  and  became  naval  lieutenant  in 
1789.  He  was  sent  in  1791,  with  Huon  de  Kermadec  and 
d'Auribeau,  in  search  of  La  Perouse.  But,  on  his  return,  in 
1795,  he  was  captured  by  the  English  in  the  latitude  of  the 
Shetlands  and  kept  a  prisoner  in  London  until  1802.  He 
received  the  honorary  title  of  rear-admiral  in  1822,  and  was 
made  member  of  the  Institute  de  France.  His  work  in  nau 
tical  astronomy  is  remarkable.  He  wrote  numerous  pamphlets, 
and  was  the  first  president  of  the  French  Geographical  Society. 

ROSTAIXG  (Juste  -Antoine  -  Henri  -  Marie  -  Germain,  Marquis 
de),  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family  of  Forez ;  born  at  Mont- 
brison  in  1740;  died  in  September,  1826,  at  the  same  place. 

He  belonged  at  first  to  the  household  of  the  Grand  Dauphin, 
then  became  first  page  of  Louis  the  Fifteenth ;  cavalry  officer 
in  1750;  went  through  the  campaign  of  Germany  under  Mar- 


313  Blanchard. 


List  of  Officers.  219 

shal  de  Broglie;  captain  in  1759;  became  colonel  of  the  regi 
ment  of  Auxerrois  ;  then  in  1770,  colonel  of  the  regiment  of 
Gatinais ;  in  1778,  went  to  America  with  Gatinais,  and  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  Martinique  and  at  Saint  Lucia.  Came 
with  Saint-Simon  to  the  siege  of  Yorktown  in  1781.  Cromot 
Dubourg  relates  that,  at  de  Saint-Simon's,  on  the  9th  of  Sep 
tember,  1781,  he  was  present  at  a  discussion  between  these  two 
superior  officers,  and  that  de  Rostaing  did  not  show  all  the 
deference  which  is  due  to  a  chief,  especially  when  on  a  cam 
paign.  "  We  sin  too  much,"  he  adds,  "  by  our  want  of  sub 
ordination." 

De  Rostaing  was  chosen  to  command  the  rear  guard  of  the 
column  of  attack  of  the  great  redoubt  of  Yorktown,  under 
the  orders  of  Count  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts,  on  the  14th 
of  October.  He  bore  himself  bravely,  and  received  as  reward 
the  rank  of  brigadier  on  the  17th  of  December,  1781,  the 
cross  of  Saint-Louis  and  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati.  Marcchal 
de  camp  in  1783.  He  belonged  to  the  Assemblee  Comtituantc 
in  1789,  as  deputy  from  Forez,  and  was  then  appointed 
lieutenant-general.  Soon  after  he  retired  to  his  country  seat, 
and  neither  served  again  nor  took  any  further  share  in  poli 
tics. 

ROUEHIE.      See  AIJMAND. 

ROUSSILLE  (Raymond  de),  born  in  17'~>f>;  sub-lieutenant  in 
the  regiment  of  Gatinais  in  1775,  lieutenant  in  1778.  Was 
staff  officer  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil  when  the  latter  was  in 
command  of  the  intrenchments  before  Yorktown. 

ROUVEKIE  (Chevalier  de  Cabrieres,  Charles  de),  born  at 
Nimes  in  1741  ;  served  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais  since 
1757  ;  went  through  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  was  appointed 
captain  in  1701.  He  commanded  at  Yorktown  the  second 


220  The  French  in  America. 

battalion  belonging  to  the  column  of  attack  under  the  com 
mand  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil.  His  valor  brought  him 
the  cross  of  Saint-Louis  and  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

RUHLE  DE  LILIENSTERN  (Guillaume  -  Charles),  born  in 
Saxony  in  1740 ;  was  at  first  ensign  in  the  service  of  Hol 
land.  He  entered  the  regiment  of  Royal  -  Deux  -  Fonts  in 
1760.  He  went  through  the  Seven  Years7  War,  then  made  the 
campaign  of  America  as  captain-commandant  of  Royal-Deux- 
Ponts.  After  the  capture  of  Yorktown  he  received  the  cross 
of  Military  Merit. 

s. 

SAIGE  DE  VILLEBRUNE.     See  VILLEBRUNE. 

SAINT-AMAND,  aid-de-camp  of  the  Baron  de  Viomenil;  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  the  attack  of  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown. 

SAINT-ATJLAIRE  (Chevalier  de),  enlisted,  among  the  first, 
as  volunteer  in  the  United  States ;  employed  as  captain  of  an 
independent  company  to  serve  in  Canada  the  21st  of  March, 

1776.314 

SAINT-COSME  (Bosnier  de).     See  BOSNIER. 
SAINT-CYR.     See  GOUVION. 
SAINT-FELIX.     See  FALQUERETTE. 
SAINT-FLORENT.     See  DOMERGUE. 

SAiNT-Luc,  born  in  France.  After  having  served  in  the 
troops  of  Canada  against  the  English,  he  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  savages  of  Lake  Ontario  to  massacre  the  Ameri- 

n*Auberteuil. 


List  of  Officers.  221 

cans.  He  quarreled  with  them  in  1777,  before  the  defeat  of 
Burgoyne,  and  oifercd  his  services  to  General  Grates,  who  re 
fused  them  with  indignation.810 

SAINT-MAIME.     See  SAINTE-MESME. 

SAINT-MARTIN,  enlisted  as  volunteer  in  the  War  of  Inde 
pendence  ;  received  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  the  23d  of 
July,  1776.316 

SAINTE-MESME  or  SAINT-MAIME  (Jean-Baptiste-Louis- 
Philippe-Felix  d'Ollieres,  Count  de),  born  in  1751  at  Olli- 
eres,  near  Aix  ;  took  later,  on  his  return  to  France,  to  date 
from  1784,  the  name  of  the  Marshal  Du  MUY,  his  uncle,  who 
died  without  heirs.  Entered  the  service  in  1769;  officer  of 
cavalry,  in  the  chevau-ttgers,  in  1770;  colonel  of  the  regiment 
of  Soissonnais  in  1775.  Remained  in  America  until  1783, 
and  was  on  his  return  appointed  brigadier,  and  received  a 
pension  and  the  cross  of  Saint-Louis.317  He  made  several 
campaigns  during  the  French  Revolution,  was  intrusted  with 
the  siege  of  Lyons,  took  part  in  the  campaigns  of  Egypt  and 
Syria  ;  was  created  baron  of  the  Empire  in  1SOS.  Retired 
at  the  Restauration,  he  was  made  peer  of  France  the  17th  of 
August,  1815.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1820. 

SAiNT-OuARY,  enlisted  as  volunteer;  was  made  prisoner  at 
the  battle  of  the  Brandywine. 

SAINT-SAUVEUR   (De   Poquet   de    Puylery).     See  POQUET. 

SAINT-SAUVEUR,  Frenchman  killed  in  a  riot  at  Boston  in 
1777.  The  Bostonians  accused  at  this  time  the  French  of  hav 
ing  jeopardized  the  success  of  the  campaign  by  the  defection 


315  Auberteuil. 

316  Auberteuil. 

317 


I  think  he  returned  to  Philadelphia.    Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


222  The  French  in  America. 

of  their  fleet  before  Khode  Island.  It  was  not  a  defection; 
but  the  Americans  did  not  understand  at  once  that  Count 
d'Estaing  had  been  obliged  to  retire  before  superior  forces. 

SAINT-SIMON  (Claude-Anne-Montbleru,  Marquis  de),  born 
in  1740  at  La  Faye,  near  Ruffec,  son  of  Louis-Gabriel  de 
Saint-Simon,  of  the  branch  of  the  family  of  Montbleru.  On 
coming  out  of  the  Military  School  of  Strasburg  he  went  into 
the  regiment  of  Auvergne.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  was 
appointed  lieutenant-chief-of-brigade  in  the  guards  of  King 
Stanislas.  Soon  colonel,  he  commanded  in  1771  the  regiment 
of  Poitou,  and  in  1775  that  of  Touraine,  with  which  he  left 
in  1779  for  America.  He  was  serving  in  the  Windward 
Islands  when  the  war  with  England  broke  out.  He  started 
from  Saint  Domingo  with  about  three  thousand  five  hundred 
men  of  his  regiments  on  the  fleet  of  Count  de  Grasse,  to  join 
La  Fayette  before  Yorktown,  which  he  reached  on  the  26th 
of  August,  1781.  On  the  17th  of  October,  he  was  slightly 
wounded  in  the  trenches,  but  in  spite  of  this,  he  would  not 
quit  his  post.  After  the  surrender,  the  3d  of  November,  1781, 
he  returned  to  the  Antilles  with  Count  de  Grasse.  He  re 
ceived  the  order  of  the  Cincinnati. 

According  to  the  memoirs  of  the  time,  he  was  one  of  the 
handsomest  men  in  the  army.  He  sat  in  1789  in  the  States 
General  as  deputy  from  Angoumois.  He  defended  the  priv 
ileges  of  the  nobility  and  of  royalty.  In  1790,  he  left  for 
Spain,  was  appointed  in  1793  marechal  de  camp  colonel  of 
the  royal  legion  of  the  emigres,  and  fought  against  France. 
He  received  two  gunshot  wounds,  one  at  Irun,  the  other  at 
Argensu.  In  1796,  he  was  appointed  captain-general  of  old 
Castille.  When  the  French  besieged  Madrid,  in  1808,  he 
defended  the  town ;  taken  and  condemned  to  death,  he  ob 
tained  a  delay,  then  a  commutation  of  his  sentence.  He  was 
shut  up  in  the  citadel  of  Besan9on,  where  his  only  daughter 
took  care  of  him.  Becoming  free  in  1814,  Louis  the  Eight- 


List  of  Officers.  223 

eenth  declared  that  he  had  done  well  for  the  house  of  Bour 
bon  and  revoked  the  sentence.  He  returned  to  Spain,  where 
he  was  made  duke  and  grandee  of  Spain.  He  did  not  occupy 
himself  further  with  politics.  He  died  at  Madrid  in  1819. 

SAIXT-SIMOX  (Claude-Henri,  called  Baron  or  Count  dc),  a 
distant  connection  of  the  former  one.  This  one  belonged  to 
the  branch  of  the  family  of  the  Sandicourt.  He  was  born 
at  Paris  on  the  17th  of  October,  1700.  He,  who  was  to  be 
come  an  apostle  of  Socialism,  was  brought  up  among  aristo 
cratic  prejudices,  as  a  descendant,  through  the  Counts  of  Ver- 
mandois,  of  the  Emperor  Charlemagne.  He  drew  from  this 
tradition  an  immoderate  love  for  glory,  which,  joined  to  a 
vivid  imagination,  made  him  do  the  most  eccentric  things 
and  aided  him  to  endure  the  greatest  misfortunes.  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  refused  to  make  his  first  communion,  be 
cause,  he  said,  he  was  incapable  of  bringing  to  this  act  the 
slightest  conviction.  Shut  up  for  this  at  Saint-Lazare,  he 
beat  the  jailer,  took  his  keys  and  ran  away  to  his  father, 
who  forgave  him.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  bitten  by  a  mad 
dog,  and  cauterized  himself  witli  a  red  hot  iron  to  prevent 
fatal  consequences.  He  armed  himself  at  the  same  time  with 
a  loaded  pistol,  which  he  carried  for  a  long  while,  intending 
to  commit  suicide  if  the  cautery  proved  inefficacious.  At  the 
age  of  sixteen  he  ordered  his  servant  to  wake  him  every 
morning  by  saying:  "Get  up,  Sir  Count;  you  have  great 
things  to  do."  He  studied  philosophy,  as  was  the  fashion  of 
the  day,  and  attended  the  lectures  of  d'Alembert.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen  he  entered  on  a  military  career,  and  tin's  is 
what  he  says  himself  of  this  period  of  his  life  : 

"I  entered  the  service  in  1777.  I  left  for  America  in 
1779;  I  served  under  the  orders  of  de  Bouille  and  those  of 
Washington.  *  *  *  On  my  return  to  France  I  was  ap 
pointed  colonel.  I  was  not  yet  twenty-three  years  of  age."  318 


prefuce  to  Lettres  au  bureau  des  Longitudes,  pages  1  and  2,  in  4°,  1808. 


224  The  French  in  America. 

And  elsewhere :  "  The  year  following  my  entry  into  the 
service,  France  declared  in  favor  of  the  American  insurgents, 
and  I  profited  of  this  circumstance  to  go  to  America,  where 
I  have  made  five  campaigns. 

"  I  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown ;  I  contributed 
in  a  rather  important  manner  to  the  capture  of  General  Corn- 
wallis  and  of  his  army ;  I  may  therefore  regard  myself  as 
one  of  the  founders  of  liberty  in  the  United  States,  for  it 
was  that  military  operation,  which,  by  bringing  about  peace, 
fixed  in  an  irrevocable  way  the  independence  of  America."  319 

The  dearth  of  material  furnished  by  Saint-Simon  himself 
on  his  military  career  is  easily  explained  by  the  way  he 
looked  on  that  career  since  he  had  resolutely  plunged  into 
the  study  of  the  new  social  system,  which  he  elaborated  from 
1803  to  his  last  hour.  I  have  given  in  my  account  of  the 
campaigns  of  the  French  in  America  all  the  information  I 
have  been  able  to  find  about  the  movements  of  the  corps  of 
volunteers  which  the  Baron  de  Saint-Simon  commanded  be 
fore  Yorktown. 

While  returning  to  France,  in  1782,  he  was  present  at  the 
defeat  of  the  French  squadron  under  the  orders  of  de  Grasse, 
by  Admiral  Rodney,  near  the  Saintes.  He  was  on  the  ad 
miral's  ship,  the  Ville  de  Paris,  and  was  taken  as  prisoner 
to  Jamaica,  where  he  remained  until  the  peace.320  He  then 
went  to  Mexico,  where  he  presented  to  the  Viceroy  a  project 
to  make  the  river  navigable  in  partido,  to  make  a  communi 
cation  between  the  two  oceans. 

Scarcely  arrived  in  France,  he  was  appointed  chevalier  of 
Saint-Louis  and  colonel  of  the  regiment  of  Aquitaine.  He 
received  also  the  title  of  member  of  the  society  of  the  Cin 
cinnati.  As  peace  ill  suited  his  active  spirit,  after  having 
passed  some  time  at  Metz  as  commandant  of  the  town,  and 

319  L* Industrie,  Vol.  II.,  pages  23  and  24  of  the  original  edition,  in  8°. 
Paris,  1817.    Letlres  d  un  Amcricain,  collection  of  M.  Henri  Fournel. 
820  Saint-Simon,  sa  vie  et  ses  travaux,  pages  12  and  13, 1859,  by  Hubbard. 


List  of  Officers.  225 

followed  the  lectures  of  the  mathematician  Monge,  he  resigned 
and  went  to  Holland  in  1785,  then  to  Spain  in  1787.  He 
afterwards  started  various  enterprises,  which  he  had  to  abandon 
at  the  Revolution.  He  did  not  occupy  himself  much  with 
politics,  but  speculated  in  the  national  finances,  and  seemed 
especially  possessed  with  the  passion  of  growing  rich.  Arrested 
as  a  noble  in  1793,  he  spent  eleven  months  in  prison,  and  was 
only  freed  at  the  fall  of  Robespierre. 

Then  begins  another  phase  of  his  life.  He  abandoned 
financial  matters  for  the  study  of  social  questions.  He  re- 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  exact  sciences  with  an 
ardor  all  the  more  remarkable  that  he  was  thirty-eight  years 
of  age.  He  settled  down  for  this  purpose  opposite  to  the 
polytechnic  school ;  then  he  lived  near  the  medical  school, 
whose  lectures  he  attended.  Pie  married,  and  ruined  himself 
with  sumptuous  entertainments,  to  which  he  invited  the  elite 
of  Paris  society. 

Having  learned  that  Madame  de  Stael  was  a  widow,  he 
obtained  a  divorce  from  his  first  wife,  and  proposed  to  the 
daughter  of  Xecker  to  unite  their  existence  and  their  genius. 
He  hoped  from  this  union  a  most  brilliant  result  and  one 
most  useful  to  humanity.  Madame  de  Stael  rejected  this 
proposal.  Saint-Simon  then  settled  at  Geneva;  he  wrote  there 
his  Letters  of  an  inhabitant  of  Geneva  to  Jiix  contemporaries*21 
in  which  he  lavs  down  the  basis  of  a  new  social  orirani/a- 

^~* 

tion,  where  power  is  divided  between  science  and  capital, 
and  ends  by  the  declaration  that  religion  is  only  a  human 
invention. 

Becoming  very  poor  in  1808,  he  was  taken  care  of  by  one 
of  his  former  clerks,  Diard,  who  paid  his  expenses,  and  even 
the  cost  of  printing  the  work  entitled :  Introduction  to  f/ic 
scientific  works  of  the  nineteenth  century.^2  Saint-Simon  here 

321  Lcttirx  (run  habitant  de  Goitre  d  ses  contemporains. 

322  Introduction  an.c  traran.v  Scientifiques  da  XlXe    tiit'cle. 


226  The  French  in  America. 

rises  to  a  great  height  in  his  general  opinions,  and  he  asks 
for  nothing  less  than  the  complete  transformation  of  the 
methods  of  scientific  instruction  and  the  substitution  of  in 
duction  for  analysis. 

The  death  of  Diard,  in  1810,  plunged  Saint-Simon  again 
into  wretched  poverty.  Cuvier  alone  sustained  him  ;  his 
petitions  to  the  emperor  remained  fruitless.  Later  his  family 
was  able  to  make  him  a  small  allowance,  and  he  took  up 
his  work  afresh.  Augustin  Thierry  became,  after  the  Revolu 
tion,  his  most  intimate  friend ;  he  co-operated  in  the  Re 
organization  of  European  Society^  a  work  which  created  a 
great  stir.  Saint-Simon  afterwards  took  as  disciples  and  col 
laborators  Saint-Aubin  and  Auguste  Comte. 

The  poverty  which  clung  to  him  threw  him  into  despair. 
On  the  9th  of  March,  1813,  he  shot  himself  in  the  head 
with  a  pistol,  but  only  succeeded  in  disfiguring  himself  by 
blowing  out  one  eye.  Olinde  Rodrigues,  Leon  HaleVy,  Bailly 
de  Blois,  Duvergier,  then  became  followers  of  his,  and  he 
published  in  1825  his  most  remarkable  work,  The  New 
Christianity™  which  was,  so  to  speak,  the  crowning  point 
of  his  life.  He  died  on  the  19th  of  March,  1825,  at  the 
age  of  seventy  years  and  seven  months.  To  the  names  of 
his  disciples  whom  I  have  already  mentioned  I  must  add 
Bazard,  Enfantin,  Buchez,  Carnot,  Michel  Chevalier,  Talabot, 
Pierre  Leroux,  £mile  Pereire,  Felicien  David,  Gueroult,  Char- 
ton,  and  M.  Henri  Fournel,  who  has  kindly  furnished  me 
with  some  materials  for  this  notice.325 


323  Reorganization  de  la  Sotiett  Europcenne. 

324  Le  Nouvcau  Christianisme. 

325  There  was  a  Saint-Simon  wounded  on  board  of  the  ship  Ville  de 
Paris  in  1782.     (See   L.   B.,   202.)     It  was  undoubtedly   this   one,  and 
he  remained  so  long  insensible  that  they   were   near  throwing  him 
overboard.      (Saint-Simon,   by   Arthur   John    Booth.     Longmans,   1871.) 
M.   Henri  Fournel   kindly   sent  me   the   following  letter  about  Saint- 
Simon  : 


List  of  Officers.  227 

SALLE  (De  La),  infantry  officer;  wounded  at  the  naval 
action  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  the  10th  of  September,  1781. 

PARIS,  the  16th  of  March,  1870. 

DEAR  SIR: — I  have  been  long  in  answering  the  question  which  you 
have  been  good  enough  to  ask  of  me,  and  yet  I  have  not  lost  sight 
of  it  for  a  single  instant. 

Barring  some  pieces  written  by  the  hand  of  Saint-Simon,  I  have 
gathered  together  the  on///  complete  collection  of  his  printed  works, 
and  I  wished  to  find  among  these  numerous  works  anything  that 
might  touch  on  the  subject  you  are  working  at.  I  have  been  able  to 
find  only  the  two  following  passages : 

"Je  suis  entre  au  service  en  1777;  je  partis  pour  I'Amerique  en 
1779;  j'ai  servi  sous  les  ordres  de  M.  de  Bouille  et  sous  ceux  de  Wash 
ington.  *  *  *  I)e  retour  en  France,  je  fus  fait  colonel.  Je  n'avais 
pas  encore  vingt  trois  ans." 

(Preface  to  Lettre*  an  bureau,  ilex  Lttny'dnam,  pages  1  and  2,  in  4°. 
1808.) 

Saint-Simon  wa.s  born  the  17th  of  October,  17(>0.  It  was  therefore 
between  January  and  October,  1783,  that  this  appointment  took 
place. 

The  second  passage  is  found  in  Lettrex  a,  mi  American^  which  are 
part  of  the  work  which  lie  published  tinder  the  title  of  /'///'/»/x/nV. 
This  passage  is  thus  worded : 

"Dans  1'annee  <jui  suivit  mon  entree  au  service,  la  France  se  declara 
en  faveur  des  insurgents  americains,  et  je  profitai  de  cette  circonstanee 
pour  passer  en  Amerique  ou  j'ai  fait  cinq  campagnes. 

"  Je  me  suis  trouve  au  sit'ge  de  York  ;  j'ai  contribue  d'ime  maniere 
assez  importante  a  la  prise  du  general  Cornwallis  et  de  son  armee ;  je 
puis  done  me  regarder  coinme  un  des  fondateura  de  la  liberte  des  Ktats- 
Unis,  car  c'est  cette  operation  militaire  qui,  en  determinant  la  paix,  a 
fix6  d'une  inaniere  irrevocable  1'independance  de  1' Amerique.''  (/,' In 
dustrie,  Vol.11.,  pages  23  and  24,  in  8°.  Paris,  1817.) 

The  truth  of  the  explanations  furnished  by  the  <)<nn-< *  of  Saint- 
Simon  on  his  military  career,  is  easily  explained  by  the  way  in  which 
he  looked  at  that  career,  from  the  time  he  resolutely  plunged  into  the 
study  of  the  new  social  system,  which  he  elaborated  from  1803  (the 
date  of  the  publication  of  the  first  sketch)  up  to  his  last  hour,  on  the 
l(,>th  of  March,  1825. 

I  should  have  much  liked,  sir,  to  furnish  you  with  more  ample  doc 
uments;  but  if  they  exist,  which  I  think  doubtful,  they  have  escaped 
me  in  the  forty-two  years  during  which  I  have  been  occupied  with 
this  collection.  If  it  were  otherwise,  I  should  have  hastened  to  let 
you  know  of  them ;  I  should  have  thought  it  only  a  duty  to  help  the 


228  The  French  in  America. 

SANTERRE  (De),  was  captain  of  grenadiers  of  the  regiment 
of  Martinique,  in  garrison  at  Saint  Domingo,  and  was  deco 
rated  with  the  order  of  Saint-Louis326  after  having  served  in 
France  for  twenty-four  years.  He  was  recommended  by  M. 
Moleau,  of  Providence,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1776,  to 
Washington,  as  possibly  useful  to  the  Americans  on  account 
of  his  knowledge  of  war.  "  He  has/7  adds  M.  Moleau,  "  a 
rather  large  fortune  in  France,  and  has  only  the  intention  of 
gaining  some  glory.  He  will  probably  settle  in  America,  if 
he  does  not  die  in  the  service."327  De  Santerre  wrote  a  let 
ter  on  the  27th  of  January,  1776,  to  General  Washington, 

researches  of  a  historian   who  is  trying  to  throw  light  on  the  youth 
of  the  man  whose  name  will  be  so  great  in  the  future. 
Accept,  I  pray  you,  sir,  my  very  cordial  salutations. 

HENRI  FOURNEL. 

P.  S. — In  a  little  volume  published  by  M.  Hubbard  in  1857,  under  the 
title  of  Saint-Simon,  sa  tie  et  ses  travaux,  one  finds,  on  pages  12  and  13, 
a  story  which  touches  on  the  subject  you  are  treating  of.  According 
to  this  account  Saint-Simon  was  on  the  Ville  de  Paris,  one  of  the  ves 
sels  of  the  French  squadron,  which,  on  its  return  from  America,  had 
to  fight  a  naval  action  with  the  English  fleet,  commanded  by  Admiral 
Rodney.  I  do  not  know  from  what  authentic  paper  this  account  was 
taken,  but  it  must  be  true,  for  the  work  of  M.  Hubbard  is  in  reality 
due  to  Olinde  Rodrigues,  who  died  on  the  17th  of  December,  1851,  and 
who  often  spoke  to  me  about  it,  and  even  read  me  some  extracts. 

After  the  decease  of  Rodrigues,  several  manuscripts  of  Saint-Simon, 
perhaps  simply  consisting  of  loose  sheets,  were  not  found,  and  I  sup 
pose  it  is  from  one  of  these  lost  manuscripts  that  the  episode  on  the 
Ville  de  Paris  has  been  taken.  H.  F. 

If  you  mention  these  passages  you  have  here  the  original  editions 
from  which  I  take  them. 

(I  leave  the  quotations  in  the  note  in  French,  as  they  are  translated 
in  the  text.  In  A.  Joanne's  Environs  de  Paris,  Hachette,  Paris,  1857, 
at  pages  100-103,  there  is  an  account  of  the  life  of  the  disciples  of 
Saint-Simon  at  Memilmontant.  On  the  27th  of  August,  1833,  Enfantin, 
Chevalier  and  Barrault  were  fined  one  hundred  francs  each  and  con 
demned  to  a  year's  imprisonment.  E.  S.  B.) 

326  American  Archives,  Series  I.,  Vol.  IV.,  pages  1,  202. 

327  American  Archives,  4th  Series,  Vol.  IV.,  page  866. 


List  of  Officers.  229 

in  which  he  says  he  had  served  twenty-four   years  and  gone 
through  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

SARRAZIX.     See  CROZAT. 

SAUVAGE  DE  SERVILANGE  (Jean-Gaspard),  born  in  1743 
at  Narlxmne ;  was  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Armagnac,  which 
only  fought  in  the  Antilles.  He  received  a  severe  wound  in 
the  left  leg  at  Saint  Lucia. 

SCOT  DE  COULANGES  (Jacques),  born  in  1742  in  Touraine  ; 
captain  of  Saintonge  in  1777.  Served  in  this  regiment  at 
Cayenne  and  before  Yorktown. 

SEGUIER  DE  TERSON  entered  the  service  as  officer  in  1756; 
captain  of  Agenois  in  1700;  captain  of  grenadiers  in  1777. 
Was  present  at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  where  he  filled  the 
functions  of  superior  officer. 

SKGUIX  (De),  infantry  officer,  killed  the  10th  of  May,  1780, 
at  the  naval  action  off  Saint  Lucia.  He  appears  to  have 
been  present  at  the  siege  of  Savannah. 

SKGUK  (Louis- Philippe,  Count  dc),  born  in  1753,  of  an 
illustrious  family  of  Rouergue,  son  of  the  marshal,  Minister 
de  Segur,  uncle  and  friend  of  La  Favette.  He  entered  the 
service  in  1701),  and  was  appointed  captain -commandant  of 
the  dragoons  of  Orleans  in  1770.  lie  planned,  while  still 
very  young,  in  1770,  the  project  of  going  to  America  with 
La  Fayette  and  de  Xoailles,  but  was  kept  back  by  his  par 
ents,  and  only  took  part  in  the  war  in  1782,  when  he  went 
to  replace  de  Noailles  as  colonel  en  second  of  Soissonnais, 
under  de  Sainte-Mesme,  colonel.  The  regiment  of  Soissonnais 
had  been  formed  from  the  regiments  of  Segur  and  of  Brique- 
ville,  which  had  fought  in  Germany  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War,  under  the  generals  of  those  names. 

He  left  Rochcfort  on  the  15th  of  July,  1782,  on  the  Gloire, 


230  The  French  in  America, 

with  de  Lauzun,  de  Broglie,  de  Montesquieu,  Sheldon,  de 
Lomenie,  de  Polereski,  de  Ligliorn  and  Alexandre  de  Lameth. 
This  frigate  was  commanded  by  de  Valonge.  At  the  same 
time  the  Aigle  started,  commanded  by  de  La  Touehe-Treville, 
whom  de  Valonge  was  jealous  of,  because  he  had  been  less 
long  in  the  service  than  himself,  and  yet  was  his  superior  in 
rank.  The  Aigle  carried  as  passengers  the  Baron  de  Viomenil, 
de  Laval,  de  Vauban,  de  Melfort,  Bozon  de  Talleyrand,  de 
Champcenetz,  the  Marquis  de  Fleury,  de  Chabannes,  Ricci 
and  others.  The  voyage  was  interrupted  by  a  rather  long 
stop  at  Terceire  in  the  Canary  Islands,  where  the  young  of 
ficers  practiced  their  gallantry  on  the  young  nuns  of  a  con 
vent  ;328  there  was  then  a  very  sharp  and  brilliant  action  with 
the  Hector,  which  the  English  had  taken  from  de  Grasse  in 
the  battle  of  the  Saintes.  One  of  the  passengers  of  the  Gloire, 
Grandeau,  lieutenant  in  the  merchant  navy,  was  very  helpful 
in  the  manoauvring  during  the  action  ;  he  aided  in  the  dis 
embarking  off  Cape  Charles  at  the  mouth  of  the  Delaware, 
and  was  able  to  save  the  money  which  the  frigates  carried 
and  which  was  destined  to  the  expeditionary  corps  ;  but  the 
Aigle  had  to  be  sunk  so  as  not  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
English.  Champcenetz  was  the  last  to  leave  the  sinking  ship, 
and  saved  by  his  firmness  the  eighteen  men  of  the  crew  who 
had  got  into  the  long  boat.  De  La  Touche-Tre"ville  was  made 
prisoner  ;  the  disaster  was  somewhat  due  to  him,  as  he  had 
embarrassed  himself  at  starting  with  a  merchant  vessel,  for 
the  sole  reason  that  the  latter  bore  a  woman  whom  he  was 
in  love  with.  This  vessel  and  the  woman  had  been  captured 
on  the  way  by  the  English. 

De  Segur  joined  his  regiment  at  Fishkill  on  the  24th  of 
December,  1782,  after  having  left  on  his  way  the  dispatches 
which  the  minister,  his  father,  had  given  him  for  de  la 
Luzerne,  de  Vaudreuil  and  de  Rochambeau. 

328  See  the  Mcmoires  of  de  Broglie  and  of  de  Segur. 


List  of  Officers.  231 

He  went  to  Columbia  the  same  year,  then  to  Saint  Do 
mingo,  where  he  owned  some  lands,  of  which  his  friend 
Berthier  made  a  survey  for  him.  Finally  he  returned  to 
France  with  the  latter  on  the  30th  of  April,  1783,  was  ap 
pointed  ambassador  to  Russia,  despite  his  youth,  and  remained 
in  France  during  the  Revolution,  living  by  his  pen.  He  was 
academician  in  1797,  senator  in  1813,  and  peer  of  France  in 
1818.  He  died  in  1830. 

SKKCEY  (Pierre -Cesar- Charles -Guillaume),  born  in  1753, 
near  Auttin.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  and  a  half  lie  left  for 
Brest  and  embarked  as  volunteer  on  the  frigate  the  LeyPrc, 
which  made  a  cruise  to  the  Windward  Islands  in  17<>S.  He 
then  went  to  the  Kast  Indies,  to  the  Southern  Seas  and  to 
the  Leeward  Islands.  He  commanded  the  Relic  Iconic  while 
de  la  Clochetterie,  the  captain,  who  had  been  wounded,  had 
gone  to  Paris.  Naval  ensign  in  177.),  he  cruised  in  succes 
sion  on  the  ships  the  Triton,  the  Conronne,  the  Villc  <le  Paris 
and  the  Concorde,  until  the  month  of  November,  1779,  when 
he  was  commandant  of  the  cutter  Sans-Pareil.  lie  served 
then  at  the  Windward  Islands  under  de  Guichen,  and  was 
present  at  the  three  actions  de  (Juichcn  fought  on  the  17th 
of  April,  and  15th  and  19th  of  May,  1780.  Sercey  was  made 
prisoner  on  the  20th  of  June,  and  returned  to  Saint  Domingo, 
in  October,  to  take  command  of  the  cutter  the  tfcrpenf,  then 
of  the  Levreth'.  Naval  lieutenant  after  aiding  in  the  capture 
of  Pensacola  in  1781.  He  returned  to  France  in  1782,  and 
was  made  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine. 

He  served  then  in  various  quarters;  was  appointed  captain 
of  frigate  in  1790,  and  rear-admiral  the  1st  of  January, 
1793;  was  arrested  as  a  noble  in  July,  but  was  liberated 
a  year  later,  and  then  made  a  seven  years'  cruise  in  the 
Indian  Ocean.  Pie  resigned  in  1804.  He  was  appointed 
vice-admiral  in  1814,  commander  of  Saint-Louis  in  1816, 
grand  cross  of  the  same  order  in  1820,  and  grand  cross  of 


232  The  French  in  America. 

the  Legion    of  Honor    in    1825.      He   was   pensioned   off  in 
1832,  with  the  title  of  peer  of  France. 

SERIEUL  or,  better,  SIREUIL  (Jean  de),  born  in  1742  in 
Pe*rigord ;  served  in  the  regiment  of  Gatinais ;  was  wounded 
at  Savannah,  and  was  present  at  the  three  naval  battles 
fought  by  de  Guichen.  As  captain  of  chasseurs  of  Gatinais, 
he  was  present  at  the  attack  on  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown, 
during  the  night  of  the  14th  to  the  15th  of  October,  1781. 
He  had  a  leg  severely  injured,  and  died  from  the  effects  of 
this  wound  forty  days  later. 

SERVILANGE.     See  SAUVAGE. 

SHEE  (Jacques),  born  in  Ireland  in  1735;  went  through 
the  campaign  as  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Dillon. 

SHELDON,  officer  of  English  extraction,  related  to  the  Dil 
lons  ;  was  mestre  de  camp  attached  to  the  hussars  of  the  legion 
of  Lauzun  and  distinguished  himself  before  Gloucester.  He 
returned  to  France  after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  but  re 
turned  to  America  in  1782  with  de  Segur  and  de  Broglie. 

SHWERIN  or  SCHWERIX  (Guillaunie-Henri-Florus,  Count 
de),  born  at  Wiedrangel,  Germany,  in  1754.  Sub-lieutenant 
of  Koyal-Deux-Ponts  in  1777,  he  took  part  in  the  attack  on 
the  redoubt  of  Yorktown,  and  received,  after  the  surrender, 
the  rank  of  lieutenant  and  a  reward. 

SIGALA  (Drouilhet  de).     See  DROUILHET. 

SILLKGUE  (one  finds  SiRVEQUE  in  Cromot  Dubourg ;  Jean- 
Fran9ois  de),  born  in  1761  ;  cadet  gentilhomme,  then  sub 
lieutenant  of  Gatinais  in  1777;  was  present  with  this  rank 
at  the  siege  of  Yorktown,  and  took  part  in  the  assault  of 


List  of  Officers.  233 

the  redoubt  during  the  night  of  the  14th  to  the  loth  of 
October,  1781.  Having  mounted  the  breach,  and  while  help 
ing  the  Viscount  de  Deux-Ponts  to  mount  also,  he  was  struck 
by  a  gunshot  which  went  through  his  thigh.  He  obtained 
a  pension  of  three  hundred  litres.  He  embarked  for  Saint 
Domingo  in  June,  1782,  bearing  a  letter  from  Blanchard  to 
the  latter's  uncle,  who  was  in  business  at  Port-au-Prince. 

SINETY  (Fran9ois-Bernard  de),  born  in  1743  at  Apt  ;  en 
tered  the  service  in  17G1  ;  served  through  the  Seven  Years' 
War  and  the  campaign  of  Corsica  before  going  to  America 
with  the  regiment  of  Soissonnais,  of  which  he  was  captain 
since  1777. 

SIREUIL.     See  SERIEUL. 
SIRV£QUE.     Sec  SILLEGUE. 

SOLERSKI.       See    POLERESKI. 

SOXTAG  (von),  later  admiral   in  the  service  of  the  Tsar. 

STAACK  or  STACK  (Edouard),  lieutenant  of  the  regiment  of 
Walsh,  and  officer  of  volunteers  on  board  of  the  Honhoimne 
Richard;  commanded  the  main  top  during  the  action  with 
the  ft 


STACK  (Joseph  de).     See  DE  STAACK. 

STACK  (De),  captain  attached  to  the  third  battalion  of 
mounted  ehuwcurs  of  Gatinais. 

STEDIXG  (Baron  de),  a  Swede,  who  served  as  volunteer 
with  the  title  of  colonel  ;  was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Savan 
nah  and  took  part  in  the  naval  battle. 


234  The  French  in  America. 

STEUBEN  or  STUBEN  (Friedrich-Wilhelrn-  August,  Baron 
von),  born  on  the  15th  of  May,  1730,  and  served  with  dis 
tinction  first  in  the  Prussian  army  as  aid-de-camp  of  the 
Great  Frederic,  then  under  Prince  Charles  of  Baden.  He 
had  retired,  when,  in  going  to  England,  he  met  in  Paris  his 
old  friend  the  Count  de  Saint-Germain,  who  advised  him  to 
go  to  America.  He  started  on  the  Heureux,  from  Marseilles, 
the  26th  of  September,  1777,  with  the  arms  and  stores  which 
Beaumarchais  was  sending  to  the  Americans  under  the  name 
of  Hortales  Rodrigues  &  Co.329  Steuben  arrived  on  that  ship 
at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  1st  of  November. 
He  succeeded  at  once  to  Conway  as  inspector-general  of  the 
Continental  army  and  instructor  of  the  recruits,  with  rank  and 
pay  of  major-general.  He  brought  his  new  volunteers  into 
discipline,  and  America  had  no  braver  officer  nor  one  more 
devoted  to  its  cause. 

He  joined  the  army  at  Valley  Forge,  was  present  at  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  and  commanded  in  the  trenches  before 
Yorktown.  On  the  14th  of  October,  1781,  while  the  col 
umn  under  the  orders  of  Guillaume  de  Deux-Ponts  was  as 
saulting  the  redoubt  on  the  left,  Steuben  carried  the  one  on 
the  right  with  La  Fayette. 

After  the  war  he  remained  in  America,  where  the  State 
of  New  Jersey,  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  overwhelmed  him  with  gifts.  He 
died  of  apoplexy  at  Steubenville,  near  New  York,  on  the 
28th  of  November,  1795,  at  sixty-four  years  of  age. 

His  life  has  been  very  carefully  written  by  M.  Frederic 
Kapp  :  Lebcn  des  Amerikanischen  Generals,  Friedrich  Wilhelm 
von  Steuben,  Berlin,  1858. 

SUXDHAL  or  SUNNAHL  (Chretien-Louis- Philippe  de),  born 
at  Deux-Ponts  in  1734;  ensign  in  the  service  of  the  Prince 
of  Waldeck  in  1754;  captain-commandant  of  Royal-Deux- 

329  For  the  impertinent  letter  of  Beaumarchais,  see  Vol.  I.,  page  82. 


List  of  Officers.  235 

Fonts   in    1779.     Received  the  cross  of  Military  Merit  after 
the  rapture  of  Yorktown. 

T. 

TAAFE  (Georges),  born  in  1757  in  Ireland;  served  in  the 
regiment  of  Dillon  since  1777,  and  went  at  first  to  Germany 
and  to  Minorca.  He  was  taken  from  under  the  wreckage 
caused  by  the  explosion  of  a  mine  l>efore  Gloucester. 

TALLEYRAND  DE  PERIGORD.     See  Bo/ox. 

TAL.SY  (Labbe  tie),  colonel  in  the  royal  corps  of  engin 
eers  in  1777. 

TARL£  (Pe),  entered  the  service  in  1759;  was  appointed 
captain  in  the  regiment  of  Bouillon,  and  received  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel  the  24th  of  March,  1780.330  Served  in  the 
campaign  of  America  with  the  rank  of  aid-major-general  ;:>:;1 
was  commissioner33-  at  the  camp  of  Dobb's  Ferry,  before  Xe\v 
York,  in  17<S1.  He  served  with  distinction  and  talent. 

PC  Tarle  arrived  at  Brest  on  the  30th  of  March,  17-SO, 
ten  days  alter  Blanchard,  to  whom  he  brought  the  commis 
sion  of  commissary-in-chief.  He  embarked  on  the  admiral's 
ship,  the  Bourgoyne.  He  had  at  Newport,  in  August,  1780, 
a  rather  sharp  discussion  with  Blauchard,  in  the  presence  of 
de  Rochambeau  and  de  Yiomenil,  at  a  meeting  of  the  coun 
cil  of  administration,  on  account  of  some  meat  which  Blanch 
ard  reproached  him  for  buying  at  too  high  a  price.  They 
made  up,  thanks  to  the  intervention  of  the  Baron  de  Yio- 
menil,  but  Blanchard  speaks  of  de  Tarle  as  "  but  ill  enlight 
ened,  cold,  surly,  and  with  an  unresponsive  disposition."  De 
Tarle  stopped  living  at  the  mess  in  February,  1781,  and 
from  that  time  Blanchard  lived  with  his  friend  de  La  Cheze, 
an  artillery  officer. 

330  Archive*  of  liar. 

331  Blanchard. 

332  Intcmlnnt. 


23G  TJie  French  in  America. 

TARL£  (Chevalier  de),  brother  of  the  preceding  one  ;  aid- 
major-general  with  de  Menonville.333 

TARRAGON  (Anne-Claude  de),  born  at  Bonneval  in  Beauce; 
entered  the  regiment  of  Dillon,  and  was  present  at  the  ex 
peditions  of  Savannah,  of  Tabago,  of  Saint  Lucia  and  of  Saint 
Christopher.  He  had  a  leg  severely  injured  on  the  Jason  in 
the  action  of  the  12th  of  April,  1782. 

TASCHEREAU  (De),  infantry  officer;  wounded  at  the  battle 
of  the  Chesapeake  in  1781. 

TAYET  DE  BAUDOT  (Jean-Baptiste-Antoine),  born  at  Charle- 
mont  in  1739;  served  since  1759;  captain-commandant  of 
Soissonnais  in  1777;  had  been  wounded  at  Minorca  and  at 
Borgo  in  Corsica.  Received  a  reward  for  the  courage  he 
showed  before  Yorktown. 

TEISSEIDRE  DE  FLEURY.     See  FLEURY. 

TERNANT  (De),  French  officer  who  started  for  America 
with  La  Fayette,  de  Valfort  and  others  in  1777.  He  carried 
out  several  commissions  with  which  he  was  intrusted,  then 
took  service  in  the  American  army  in  March,  1778.  He  was 
appointed,  by  the  intervention  of  Washington,  sub-inspector 
under  Steuben.  He  had  much  wit  and  talent,  says  de  Chas- 
tellux  in  his  memoirs ;  he  drew  well,  and  spoke  English  as 
well  as  he  did  French.  Made  prisoner  at  Charleston,  he  did 
no  more  fighting  in  America,  but,  later,  took  service  again  in 
Holland  as  colonel  of  the  legion  of  Maillebois. 

TERNAY  (Chevalier  de),334  formerly  governor  of  the  lie  de 
France ;  tried  to  get  himself  appointed  chief  of  the  squadron 


533  Blanchard. 

534  For  this  notice  of  de  Ternay  see  speeches  of  Senator  Anthony,  let 
ters  of  de  Noailles,  and  Sydney  Everitt's  article.     Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


List  of  Officers.  237 

which  was  to  make  an  expedition  to  India  against  the  English. 
He  wanted  thus  to  supplant  de  Bussy,  but  he  did  not  succeed 
in  so  doing.  As  compensation,  he  was  given  command  of 
the  squadron  which  was  to  conduct  to  America  the  expedi 
tionary  corps  of  llochambeau.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1780, 
the  troops  embarked  were  able  to  put  to  sea;  they  had  been 
kept  at  Brest,  since  the  12th  of  April,  by  contrary  winds. 
The  fleet  was  composed  of  two  vessels  of  eighty  guns,  one 
of  seventy-four,  four  of  sixty-four,  and  two  frigates.  During 
the  passage,  de  Ternay  met  some  English  ships  on  the  20th 
of  June;  but  wishing  to  follow  his  instructions,  which  en 
joined  him  to  reach  America  as  soon  as  possible,335  he  dec-lined 
the  combat  and  arrived  at  Newport  on  the  23d  of  July,  after 


888  De  Ternay,  on  starting  from  Brest,  had  taken  with  him  sealed  in 
structions,  which  he  was  only  to  open  at  sea,  and  if  he  should  meet 
the  enemy.  On  sighting  the  squadron  of  Captain  Cornwallis,  which 
was  taken  for  that  of  Admiral  Graves,  which  he  knew  was  ready  to 
follow  him,  he  opened  his  orders.  He  found  there  the  one  ordering 
him  not  to  attack  the  English,  no  matter  what  good  opportunity 
should  present  itself,  no  matter  how  inferior  he  found  them,  and  to 
sail  straight  to  Rhode  Island.  Time  was  important;  the  least  delay 
might  have  had  fatal  consequences.  A  battle  at  sea,  with  a  convoy 
disturbing  the  attention  of  the  commander,  would  have  retarded  his 
arrival  at  his  destination.  He  effectually  only  anchored  at  Newport 
three  days  before  Admiral  Graves  and  General  Clinton  had  already  re 
turned  to  New  York.  The  latter,  at  tin4  first  news  of  the  arrival  of 
the  French,  had  hastened  to  abandon  Charleston,  in  hopes  of  being 
before  them  in  Rhode  Island,  to  defend  that  island  and  prevent  them 
establishing  themselves  there.  A  brilliant  or  Meeting  advantage,  to 
which  de  Ternay  might  have  aspired,  might  have  rendered  difficult  or 
murderous,  or  perhaps  prevented,  the  disembarking  of  the  army  of  the 
Count  de  Rochambeau.  The  capture  or  the  destruction  of  some  English 
vessels  would  not  have  made  up  for  it.  Victories  have  a  brilliancy 
which  may  touch  ardent  imaginations  and  superficial  minds,  who  only 
see  the  present  moment,  and  never  that  which  is  to  follow.  It  is  by 
their  effects  that  we  must  judge  them,  and  those  of  de  Ternay  would 
have  been  more  fatal  to  France  and  her  allies  and  more  favorable  to 
England  than  a  complete  defeat.  (M'ercure  dc  France,  January,  1781, 
page  11.) 


238  The  French  in  America. 

a  seventy-two  days7  crossing.336  By  unanimous  opinion  lie  lost 
there  a  fine  occasion  to  begin  by  making  some  valuable  prizes. 
It  was,  in  fact,  a  convoy  of  three  thousand  troops,  escorted 
only  by  four  or  five  frigates,  sailing  from  Charleston  to  New 
York,  which  he  had  let  escape.  He  was  much  affected  by 
the  unanimous  reproaches  of  the  army  on  the  subject,  and  the 
sorrow  he  felt  thereat  is  said  to  have  hastened  his  death,  on 
the  27th  of  September,  1780.  He  was  only  able  before  his 
death  to  be  present  at  the  interview  of  Hartford,  between 
Washington,  Rochambeau  and  Chastellux,  on  the  20th  of 
September,  1780. 

"He  was  rough  and  obstinate/7  says  La  Fayette,  "but 
firm  and  of  good  counsel.  On  the  whole,  he  is  a  loss  to 
France.77 

TERRADE  (Jean-Marie),  born  in  1731  at  Perissac  in  Guy- 
enne;  private  in  the  regiment  of  Auvergne,  officer  in  1769, 
lieutenant  in  1779,  lieutenant  of  grenadiers  of  Gatinais  after 
the  capture  of  Yorktown,  where  he  had  distinguished  himself. 

TERSON.     See  SEGUIER. 

TEXIER  (Felix),  French  sergeant  in  the  service  of  Con 
gress.337 

THIEBAULT  DE  MENONVILLE.     See  MENONVILLE. 

THUILLIERES  (De),  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux- 
Ponts ;  arrived  at  Newport  on  the  30th  of  September,  1780, 
on  the  Gentitte,  coming  from  Cape  Frangais  with  de  Choisy 
and  eight  other  officers,  among  whom  were  the  two  Berthiers. 

^Thanks  to  Mr.  Sheffield,  I  find  that  the  report  of  de  Ternay's 
having  been  killed  in  a  duel  by  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  is  mentioned 
in  Governor  Bull's  memoirs  of  Newport.  Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 

337  Records  of  Revolutionary  War. 


List  of  Officers.  239 

TILLY  (Dc),  major-general  of  the  troops  at  Martinique 
under  cle  Bouille.  He  was  in  the  rear  guard  of  the  attack 
ing  column  against  the  Island  of  Martinique  the  2d  of  Sep 
tember,  1778.  He  commanded  also  a  little  expedition  which 
was  transported  by  the  squadron  of  Destonches  to  Chesapeake 
Bay,  where  he  captured  the  Romulus  in  1780.338 

TOTT  (Chevalier  dc),  arrived  from  Constantinople  in  Paris 
the  27th  of  June,  1776;  went  to  see  Dr.  Dubourg,  who  en 
gaged  him  for  America.  He  had  handled  with  talent  the 
artillery  of  the  Turks  in  their  war  with  the  Russians.  He 
left  with  Ducoudray  in  January,  1777.339 

TouciiE-TiiftviLLE  (Louis -Rene"- Madeleine  Levassor  de 
La),  born  at  Rochefort  in  1745.  He  entered  the  marines  as 
guard  at  the  age  of  thirteen;  became  naval  ensign  in  1768; 
was  retired  and  enlisted  in  the  musketeers.  He  followed  as 
aid-de-camp  General  Dcnnery  to  Saint  Domingo,  with  the 
rank  of  captain  of  cavalry. 

In    1771,   he  entered  with  the   same   rank   the    reiriinent  of 

'  O 

La  Rochefoucauld,  and  became  aid-de-camp  to  General  La 
Valliere,  commandant  of  the  Windward  Islands.  Pie  was 
reinstated  in  the  navy  as  captain  of  a  fire  ship  in  1772,  and 
became  naval  lieutenant  of  the  Rotxiynol  in  1778.  He  was 
in  command  of  the  Hcnnlonc  when,  in  the  month  of  March, 
1780,  he  fought  a  two-hours'  action  with  the  Knglish  frigate 
the  Iris.  He  lost  in  this  affair  thirty-seven  men  killed  and 
fifty-three  wounded,  and  his  left  arm  was  pierced  by  a  bullet. 
He  was  then  appointed  naval  captain  and  chevalier  of  Saint- 
Louis.  He  brought  back  then  to  America  on  the  Hermione, 
La  Fayette  and  several  other  officers.  On  his  arrival  in 

338  (I  think  this  must  be  the  De  Tilly  who  commanded  the  Evettle  of 
de  Ternay's  squadron.    See  Vol.  I.,  page  104.    E.  S.  B.) 
339 .1  in  erica  n  A  rch  ivcs. 


240  The  French  in  America. 

Ehode  Island  he  was  intrusted  to  establish  the  coast  defense 
batteries,  and  proved  himself  there  a  skillful  engineer. 

In  the  month  of  July,  1781,  the  Hermione,  in  concert  with 
the  Astr6e,  which  La  Perouse  commanded,  sustained  on  the 
coast  of  Acadia  an  action  of  several  hours,  against  four  Eng 
lish  frigates  and  two  corvettes.  Two  of  these  ships  were 
captured.  The  following  year,  La  Touche-Treville  was  in 
trusted  to  carry  on  the  Aigle  and  the  Gloire,  with  de  Broglie, 
de  Segur  and  many  other  officers  as  passengers,  the  three  mill 
ions  which  France  was  sending  to  the  expeditionary  corps. 
We  have  related  this  trip  as  told  by  de  Broglie.  In  disem 
barking,  La  Touche-Treville  was  captured  with  the  Aigle,  and 
kept  prisoner  by  the  English  until  the  peace. 

Deputy  of  the  nobility  from  Montargis  to  the  States  Gen 
eral  in  1789,  he  was  among  the  first  to  join  the  Third  Es 
tate,  and  then  formed  part  of  the  Assemblee  Constituante  until 
1791.  Appointed  rear-admiral  in  1791.  Deprived  of  his  rank, 
and  kept  prisoner  as  a  noble  in  1793,  he  was  freed  in  1794, 
and  would  not  serve  again  until  1799.  He  became  vice-ad 
miral  in  1801,  after  an  expedition  to  Saint  Domingo. 

He  died  in  1804  at  Toulon,  where  he  was  in  command, 
on  board  of  his  admiral's  ship,  the  Bucentaure. 


TOUZARD  (De),  was  captain  of  artillery  in  the  regiment  of 
la  Fere,  when  he  obtained  leave  to  start  for  America.  He 
took  his  rank  on  the  27th  of  October,  1777.  In  September, 
1778,  he  lost  an  arm  while  withdrawing  a  battery  at  Rhode 
Island.  He  was  filling  the  position  of  aid-de-camp  to  La 
Fayette.  His  arm  was  amputated,  and  he  received  from 
the  American  Government  the  title  of  lieutenant-colonel  with 
an  annuity  of  thirty  dollars  a  month.  The  President  sent 
him  besides  a  most  flattering  letter.340 

840  Longckamps  and  Mcmoircs  of  La  Fayette. 


List  of  Officers.  241 

TRAURONT  (Chevalier  de),  entered  the  regiment  of  Agenois ; 
sub-lieutenant  in  1771,  lieutenant  of  grenadiers  in  1777. 

TRESSAN  (De),  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge. 

TRENONAY  (De),  lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Foix  in 
1757,  captain  in  1762;  appointed  major  at  Savannah  by 
d'Estaing  in  1779. 

TROGOFF  (Jean-Honore",  Count  de),  born  the  5th  of  May, 
1751,  at  Laumeur ;  died  at  the  Island  of  Elba  in  1794;  of 
an  ancient  family  of  Brittany.  Ensign  in  1773;  distinguished 
himself  in  the  War  of  America  and  fell  with  de  Grasse  into 
the  hands  of  the  English.  Naval  captain  in  1784,  rear-ad 
miral  in  1793.  He  surrendered  Toulon  to  the  English,  and 
fled  to  Spain  when  the  French  retook  the  town  in  1793. 
He  died  on  board  of  a  merchant  vessel. 

TRONSON.     See  DUCOUDRAY. 

TROUDE  (Aimable-Gilles),  rear-admiral,  officer  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  chevalier  of  Saint-Louis;  born  at  Cherbourg  in 
1762,  died  at  Brest  in  1824.  Embarked  as  under  pilot  in 
1776;  made  in  1777  two  cruises  to  Martinique  on  the  Aim- 
ablc-Vidor.  In  1781  lie  was  on  the  llerculc,  which  belonged 
to  the  naval  army  of  de  Guichen  and  de  Grasse. 

He  served  in  European  waters  from  1782.  Naval  ensign 
in  January,  1793,  lieutenant  in  July  of  the  same  year,  cap 
tain  of  frigate  in  1796.  He  sustained  in  1801,  within  sight 
of  Cadiz,  on  the  Formidable,  a  most  glorious  combat  and  was 
appointed  naval  captain.  Hoar-admiral  in  1811,  he  was  re 
tired  in  1816. 

TRUGUET  (Laurent-Jean-Fran9ois,  Count  de),  son  of  a  chief 
of  squadron,  was  born  at  Toulon  in  1752,  and  entered  in 
1766  the  marines  as  guard.  He  was  naval  ensign,  and  had 


242  The  French  in  America. 

already  made  eight  cruises  when  the  American  war  broke 
out.  At  the  siege  of  Savannah,  Truguet,  then  naval  lieuten 
ant,  saved  the  life  of  Count  d'Estaing,  who  was  unable  to 
move  on  account  of  his  wounds.  De  Truguet  placed  him  on 
the  shoulders  of  two  grenadiers,  who  were  killed  by  grape- 
shot,  but  were  immediately  replaced  by  others,  and  he  suc 
ceeded  in  bringing  d'Estaing  back  to  the  reserves. 

In  1784,  he  accompanied  the  French  ambassador  to  Con 
stantinople,  and  drew  the  first  marine  charts  of  the  Black 
Sea,  of  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  of  the  Archipelago.  His 
maps  are  to  be  found  in  the  Journey  of  the  Young  Anachar- 
sis.  He  returned  to  France  in  1789  and  was  appointed  naval 
captain,  then  rear-admiral  in  1792.  Imprisoned  as  a  suspect, 
he  was  delivered  on  the  9th  Thermidor  and  appointed  vice- 
admiral.  Minister  of  the  navy  under  the  Directoire  in  1795, 
he  gave  up  his  position  in  1797  to  Pleville  Le  Peley,341  and 
was  sent  as  ambassador  to  Spain.  Disgraced  under  the  Em 
pire,  he  only  took  service  again  in  1809  as  vice-admiral, 
then  in  1811  as  prefect  of  the  maritime  provinces  of  Hol 
land.  He  remained  prisoner  of  the  allies  until  the  peace. 

Made  count  and  grand  cross  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  by 
Louis  the  Eighteenth  in  1814,  peer  of  France  in  1819,  hon 
orary  admiral  in  1831.  He  died  in  1839. 

TURPIN  (De),  officer  of  engineers  who  worked  actively  with 
Gouvion  in  laying  down  the  parallels  before  Yorktown.  He 
was  attached  to  the  French  expeditionary  corps  while  Gou 
vion  was  serving  with  the  Americans.342 

V. 

VACHOX  or  VACHERON  (Pierre-Charles-Fraii9ois),  born  in 
1742  at  Retournac  in  Velay  ;  served  since  1760.  Captain  in 

341  See  in  the  List  of  Officers  :  Pleville  Le  Peley. 
^Blanchard. 


List  of  Officers.  243 

the  regiment  of  Gfitinais  in  1771  ;  was  decorated,  after  the 
capture  of  Yorktown,  with  the  orders  of  Saint-Louis  and  of 
the  Cincinnati. 

VALETTE  (Charles-Francois  Chaudron,  Chevalier  de  La), 
born  at  Montfort-l'Amanrv  in  1731.  Entered  the  service  in 
1740;  lieutenant-colonel  of  Saintonge  in  1773;  brigadier  in 
December,  1781,  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown.  Although 
he  had  only  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  yet  he  was  in 
trusted  with  the  command  of  the  rear  guard  after  the  capture 
of  Yorktown  and  during  the  retreat.  lie  was  left  at  York- 
town  with  six  hundred  men  and  the  siege  artillery,  while  the 
rest  of  the  army  went  ahead.  He  rejoined  the  bulk  of  the 
army  at  Baltimore. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  he  was  detached  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  men  to  guard  Conanicut  Island,  but 
was  soon  called  back  to  Newport  by  Rochambeau,  who  did 
not  think  he  was  in  safety. 

VAT, FORT  (De),  captain  in  the  regiment  of  Aunis,  witli 
brevet  of  colonel  in  the  French  Islands.  lie  went  to  North 
America  on  the  same  ship  as  La  Fayette,  de  Ternant  and 
others.  His  long  experience,  his  profound  knowledge  and 
his  uprightness  drew  to  him  the  friendship  of  the  Americans, 
and  he  would  have  stayed  among  them  if  his  health  had  per 
mitted,  but  he  was  forced  to  return  to  France  in  October, 
1777.  La  Fayette  gave  him  a  letter  for  his  family. 

The  minister  of  war,  de  Segur,  appointed  de  Valfort  di 
rector  of  the  Military  School  at  Brienne,  and  he  thus  became 
the  principal  instructor  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.343 

VALLENAYS  (De),  enlisted  as  volunteer ;  brevet  captain  of 
cavalry  with  pay  the  28th  of  July,  1777. 


244  The  French  in  America. 

YALONGE  or  YALOGNE  or  YALONGUE  (Chevalier  de),  cap 
tain  of  the  Gloire,  a  frigate  of  thirty-six  twelve-pounder  can 
nons,  which  sailed  for  America  on  the  19th  of  May,  1782, 
carrying  two  millions  of  livres  and  a  number  of  officers.344 

YAMIN  (Count  de  Flechin).     See  FLECHIN. 

YAKAIGNE,  captain  of  engineers  with  Ducoudray,  with  pay 
from  the  7th  of  November,  1777. 

YAEIN  DE  LA  CHAUSSEE  (Charles-Alexandre),  born  in 
1759  at  Rouen;  sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Saintonge  ; 
was  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Yorktown. 

YAUBAN  ( Jacques- Airne- Joseph  Le  Prestre,  Count  de),  great 
grand-nephew  of  the  marshal  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth ;  born 
at  Dijon  in  1754,  died  there  in  1816.  He  entered  at  the  age 
of  sixteen  as  sub-lieutenant  the  regiment  of  dragoons  of  La 
Rochefoucauld;  was  captain  in  1775;  received  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-colonel  in  the  gendarmerie  in  1777,  mestre  de  camp 
in  1779,  attached  to  the  regiment  of  Chartres  in  1780.  He 
obtained  permission  to  join  the  army  in  America,  which  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  he  did  not  go  with  the  expedition  in 
May,  1780.  He  was  attached  as  aid-de-camp  to  the  staff  of 
Rochambeau,  and  showed  the  greatest  valor,  especially  at  the 
attack  of  the  redoubt  of  Yorktown,  where,  ordered  by  de  Ro 
chambeau  to  make  a  report  of  everything  that  should  happen, 
he  took  his  position  near  to  de  Yiomenil  and  de  Deux-Ponts 
and  shared  all  the  dangers  of  the  assault.  He  went,  in  1782, 
into  Columbia  with  de  Broglie  and  de  Segur. 

At  the  French  Revolution  he  had  been  colonel  of  the  in 
fantry  regiment  of  Orleans  since  1784.  He  emigrated  and 
served  in  the  war  as  aid-de-camp  of  the  Count  d'Artois.  He 

344  Narrative  of  the  Prince  de  Broglie. 


List  of  Officers.  245 

took  part  in  the  expedition  of  Quiberon,  and  only  abandoned 
the  Royal  cause  when  he  saw  it  was  lost.  He  re-entered 
France  under  the  Consulate,  was  arrested  in  1806  for  Royalist 
manoeuvres  and  intrigues,  but  was  released.  He  took  no  fur 
ther  part  in  public  life,  and  died  without  having  been  able 
to  obtain  an  audience  from  the  Bourbons,  whom  the  publica 
tion  of  his  Hixtoire  de  la  Guerre  de  Vendee,  revised  by  the 
Imperial  Government,  had  indisposed  towards  him.  He  died, 
it  was  said,  of  sorrow. 

VAUDREUIL  (Louis-Philippe  de  Rigaud,  Marquis  de),345  son 
of  the  sailor  lieutenant-general  of  that  name,  and  grandson 
of  the  Governor  of  Canada.  He  was  born  at  Rochefort  in 
17*24;  fought  as  ensign  the  25th  of  October,  1747,  against 
the  English  on  the  Inflexible,  of  which  his  father  was  cap 
tain.  Naval  lieutenant  in  1754.  He  escorted  with  the  frig- 

O 

ate  Arethmc  a  numerous  convoy,  for  whose  safety  he  sacrificed 
himself  by  sustaining,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1759,  at  the  en 
trance  of  the  Bay  of  Audierne,  an  action  of  two  hours  against 
a  frigate  and  three  English  ships.  His  arm  was  broken  and 
he  had  to  strike.  Chief  of  squadron  in  1777,  he  started 
from  Brest  in  December,  1778,  with  a  fleet  bearing  troops 
for  the  Antilles,  and  on  his  road  seized,  with  de  Lauzun,  the 
Senegal. 

Vaudreuil  took  part  in  the  actions  of  the  17th  of  April 
and  15th  and  19th  of  May,  1780,  fought  in  the  Antilles 
by  de  Guichen  with  Admiral  Rodney,  and  was  afterwards 
made  grand  cross  of  Saint-Louis  and  Governor  of  Saint  Do 
mingo.  Preferring  an  active  life  to  this  sedentary  occupa 
tion,  he  asked  for  a  position  at  sea  ;  joined  the  fleet  of  de 
Grasse,  and  was  present,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1782,  at  the 
battle  of  the  Saintes.  Feeling  that  the  critical  position  of  the 

345 See  the  history  of  de  Vaudreuil,  Histoirc  raiwnnce  da  la  dernicre 
Guerre,  by  J.  de  Saint-Vallier,  pages  116,  117,  118. 


246  The  French  in  America. 

Admiral's  ship,  the  Ville  de  Paris,  might  prevent  de  Grasse 
from  paying  attention  to  the  other  ships,  he  made  general  sig 
nals,  which  were  approved ;  but  when  the  Ville  de  Paris  had 
struck,  de  Grasse  made  a  complaint  against  de  Yaudreuil, 
who,  on  his  demand,  was,  as  well  as  the  other  officers  who 
had  been  present  at  this  action,  brought  before  a  council  of 
war  assembled  at  Lorient  in  March,  1784.  On  the  21st  of 
May,  de  Vaudreuil  was  freed  from  all  blame,  and  even  con 
gratulated  for  his  conduct  in  the  battle. 

Raised  on  the  14th  of  August,  1782,  to  the  rank  of  lieu 
tenant-general,  he  was  elected  deputy  to  the  States  General 
in  1789  by  the  nobility  of  Castelnaudary.  He  sat  on  the 
right  and  opposed  the  revolutionary  measures.  During  the 
night  of  the  oth  to  the  6th  of  October  he  penetrated  to  the 
royal  family,  and  by  his  firmness  held  in  check  the  people 
who  were  invading  the  palace.  In  1791  he  emigrated  to 
England,  returned  to  Paris  under  the  Consulate,  and  died 
in  1802. 

YEXCE  was  at  the  head  of  the  fifty  filibusters  who,  sus 
tained  by  a  few  soldiers  under  command  of  de  Bouille, 
bravely  seized,  by  a  sudden  attack,  Dominica  in  1778.  He 
distinguished  himself  afterwards  at  the  capture  of  Grenada 
and  at  Savannah.346 

YERMONET  (Jean-Arthur  de),  enlisted  as  volunteer,  and 
was  brevet  captain  as  early  as  the  29th  of  July,  1776.  On 
the  18th  of  September  following,  he  was  appointed  major  in 
consideration  of  his  services,  on  the  demand  of  Washington. 

YERTON  (De),  officer  of  artillery ;  was  charged  to  defend 
the  passage  of  the  North  River  against  an  English  squad 
ron  which  was  annoying  the  allied  troops  at  the  camp  of 

m  Auberteuil,  Vol.  II.,  page  399. 


List  of  Officers.  247 

Dobb's  Ferry.     He  was  aided  in  this  duty  by  another  artil 
lery  officer,  de  Neuris.347 

VERTON  (Baron  de),  lieutenant-colonel  of  artillery ;  was  a 
passenger  on  the  Aiyle,  to  return  to  America  in  178*2  with 
de  Segur.  He  saved  the  money  which  was  aboard  of  the 
frigate,  with  the  help  of  Mac-Mahon.  The  minister  of  wrar, 
de  Segur,  addressed  to  him,  in  the  name  of  the  king,  a  letter 
of  congratulation. 

VIEBP:RT  (Antoine-Felix),  enlisted  as  volunteer  on  the  26th 
of  June,  1776.  Recommended  to  General  Washington  in  the 
capacity  of  engineer. 

VIENXE  (Marquis  de),  enlisted  as  volunteer  on  the  15th  of 
June,  1776  ;  served  without  any  rank  during  one  campaign, 
and  was  then  breveted  colonel.  He  had  before  been  major 
in  the  French  army,  and  he  resigned  in.  America  in  October, 
1777,  to  return  to  serve  in  his  own  country. 

VILLE  (Aymard  de).     Sec  AYMARD. 

VILLEBRUNE  (Servant-Paul  Le  Saigc  de),  born  in  1747 
near  Saint  Malo  ;  entered  the  service  in  17(>2;  captain  in 
the  regiment  of  Agenois  in  1751).  He  fought  bravely  at 
Pensacola  and  at  Yorktown,  and  was  killed  in  1782  at  the 
siege  of  Fort  Saint  Christopher. 

VILLEBRUNE,  captain  of  the  Romidm,  of  the  squadron  of 
Destouches;  deserved  praise  for  the  handling  of  his  ship  during 
an  action  with  the  London,  a  three  decker,  in  Chesapeake  Bay, 
on  the  16th  of  March,  178 1.348 


M7Cromot  Dubourg.    See  Vol.  I.,  page  159. 
348  Blanc-hard. 


248  The  French  in  America. 

VILLEFRANCHE  was  in  succession,  student  engineer  in  1770, 
sub-lieutenant  in  1772,  lieutenant  in  the  dragoons  of  the  king 
in  1773.  He  resigned  in  1777,  to  go  to  America,  where  he 
received  the  rank  of  major.  He  wasted  his  fortune  there, 
and  received  after  the  war  a  pension  of  five  hundred  livres. 
He  was  then  appointed  captain  in  the  provincial  troops  of 
France. 

VILLEMANZY  (De),  commissary  of  war  who  followed  the 
expeditionary  corps  of  Kochanibeau.  He  embarked  at  Brest 
on  the  Ardent  with  Demars,  director  of  the  hospitals.  He 
was  ordered  to  establish  bakers'  ovens  at  Chatham,  and  to 
pretend  to  bring  up  stores  before  New  York  and  Staten 
Island,  while  the  allied  army  crossed  the  North  River  and 
moved  towards  Baltimore.  He  acquitted  himself  perfectly  of 
this  mission,  got  himself  cannonaded,  and  kept  constantly  on 
the  alert,  the  garrison  of  New  York  under  the  orders  of 
Clinton.  He  became,  later,  peer  of  France. 


NET,  officer  of  the    Vengeance. 

VIOMENIL  (Antoine-Charles  du  Houx,  called  Baron  de), 
born  at  Fauconcourt,  in  the  Vosges,  in  1728;  entered  the 
service  in  1740,  at  the  age  of  twelve,  with  the  rank  of 
sub-lieutenant  in  the  regiment  of  Limousin,  and  became  cap 
tain  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  in  1747.  He  was  wounded  at 
the  siege  of  Berg-op-Zoorn  ;  served  afterwards  in  Hanover 
and  in  Corsica,  became  colonel  in  1759,  brigadier  in  1762, 
mareehal  de  camp  in  1770.  He  started  in  1771  for  Poland, 
where  he  fought  against  the  Russians,  and  directed  the  defense 
at  the  castle  of  Cracow. 

The  Baron  de  Viomenil  crossed  to  America  on  the  Con 
quer  ant,  on  which  were  de  Custine,  de  Menonville,  Blanchard, 
de  Chabannes  and  de  Pange,  aids-de-camp  ;  Brizon,  naval 
officer,  secretary  of  the  Baron,  and  part  of  the  regiment  of 


List  of  Officers.  249 

« 

Saintonge.  During  the  expedition  of  1781,  Baron  de  Viomenil 
played  a  very  important  part.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the 
expedition  which  started  in  March  on  the  vessels  of  Destouches 
to  take  succors  to  Virginia  by  way  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The 
expedition  was  fruitless ;  but  it  was  not  the  fault  of  de  Vio 
menil  or  de  Laval,  who  were  leading  it,  and  who  bore  them 
selves  bravely.  The  Baron  de  Viomenil  afterwards  commanded 
the  rear  guard,  during  the  march  between  New  York  and 
AVilliamsburg.  It  is  he  who  directed  the  two  simultaneous 
attacks  on  the  English  redoubts  during  the  night  of  the  14th 
to  the  loth  of  October.  While  La  Fayette  and  Steuben 
were  capturing  the  one  on  the  right,  he  himself,  sword  in 
hand,  led  towards  the  enemies'  intrenchments  the  first  division 
of  the  column  on  the  left,  commanded  by  Guillaume  de  Deux- 
Ponts,  de  1'Estrade  and  de  Rostaing.  The  success  was  prompt 
and  decisive.  The  Baron  de  Viomenil  then  went  to  spend  a 
few  months  in  France.  He  returned  to  America  on  the  Aiylc 
in  17<S2,  after  having  been  made  commander  of  the  order  of 
Saint-Louis  and  lieutenant-general.  He  rejoined  the  army  at 
Crampond,  and  handed  over  to  de  Rochambeau  the  two 
million  five  hundred  thousand  live*  he  had  brought  him. 
He  took  the  troops  back  to  France,  and  lived  at  La  Rochelle 
until  1789,  epoch  when  he  made  part  of  the  Army  of  Paris 
under  the  orders  of  de  Broglie.  He  opposed  energetically  the 
Revolution.  During  the  fighting  of  the  10th  of  August, 
1792,  he  proved  himself  one  of  the  lx>st  and  most  courageous 
defenders  of  the  royal  family.  Severely  wounded,  he  was 
picked  up  and  hidden  in  a  friend's  house,  where  he  died  at 
the  end  of  three  months.  Pie  was  a  member  of  the  order  of 
the  Cincinnati. 

VioMfcxiL  (Charles- Joseph -Hyacinthe  du  Houx,  called 
sometimes  Chevalier,  sometimes  Viscount  de),  younger  brother 
of  the  former,  was  born  in  1734  at  Ruppes,  in  the  Vosges. 
He  entered  the  service  in  1747  in  the  regiment  of  Limousin, 


250  The  French  in  America. 

and  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Laufeld  and  at  the  siege  of 
Berg-op-Zoom.  During  the  Seven  Years'  War  he  was  aid-de 
camp  of  Chevert;  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  legion  of 
Lorraine  in  1761,  and  made  the  campaign  of  Corsica  ;  he 
was  appointed  brigadier  in  1770  and  marechal  de  camp  in 
1780. 

The  Viscount  de  Vionienil  crossed  to  America  on  the  Nep 
tune.  He  served  under  the  orders  of  his  brother,  the  Baron 
de  Viornenil,  who  was  six  years  his  senior,  and  who  gained 
more  laurels  in  the  campaign.  While  the  Baron  had  gone 
to  France,  after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown,  the  Viscount  re 
placed  him,  and  with  de  Chastellux  led  the  return  from 
Yorktown  to  Crampond.  The  Baron  rejoined  him  there,  and 
both  together  brought  the  army  back  to  Boston,  while  de 
Rochambeau  was  with  the  legion  of  Lauzun. 

Despite  the  slight  renown  which  the  campaign  of  America 
gave  to  the  Viscount,  yet  he  had  a  more  brilliant  destiny 
than  his  brother.  On  his  return  to  France,  he  received  from 
the  king,  a  pension  of  five  thousand  litres.  He  was  ap- 
apointed  Governor  of  Martinique  and  of  the  Windward  Isl 
ands  in  1789;  returned  to  Europe  in  1791  and  served  in 
the  Army  of  Conde  against  his  country  in  1792  and  1793. 
In  1794  he  was  put  at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of  his  name 
in  the  service  of  England;  but  in  1795  he  returned  to  the 
Army  of  Conde  where  he  commanded  a  brigade  in  1796  and 
1797.  He  then  went  to  Russia,  where  Paul  the  First  ap 
pointed  him  lieutenant-general  of  his  army  in  1798.  Later 
he  went  to  Portugal,  where  King  John  the  Sixth  gave  him 
the  title  of  Marshal-General  of  the  Kingdom ;  he  had  re 
ceived  a  few  months  before  the  title  of  lieutenant-general 
from  the  King  of  France. 

On  the  return  of  the  Bourbons,  in  1816,  he  was  made  mar 
shal  and  peer  of  France,  marquis  and  chevalier  of  the  Saint- 
Esprit.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  order  of  the  Cincin 
nati.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1827,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three. 


List  of  Officers.  251 

VIUXEJOUX  (Jean-Louis  de),  volunteer  ;  employed  with  the 
rank  and  pay  of  captain  on  the  19th  of  September,  1776;349 
bore  himself  with  much  bravery,  when  he  was  made  prisoner 
at  Brunswick,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1776.350 

VOSSELLK  (De),  infantry  officer ;  wounded  at  the  naval 
battle  off  Saint  Lucia  the  19th  of  May,  1780. 

VHECOURT  (Count  de).     Colonel,  April   the  12th,  1777. 

VKIGXY  (De),  enlisted  as  volunteer ;  received  the  rank  of 
captain  the  15th  of  September,  1777;  resigned  on  the  21st 
of  October,  1778.851 

W. 

AViLLAUMEZ  (Jean-Baptiste-Philibert,  Count  de),  born  in 
1753  at  Belle-He.  He  embarked  as  cabin  boy  in  1767; 
was  present  at  several  fights  with  the  English,  and  was  em- 
ploved  in  1782  as  first  pilot  on  the  frigate  the  Amuzone, 
commanded  by  de  Vaudreuil.  Xaval  lieutenant  and  deco 
rated  with  the  order  of  Saint-Louis  in  1790,  captain  of  frig 
ate  in  1795,  naval  captain  in  1798,  rear-admiral  in  1804, 
vice-admiral  in  1819,  peer  of  France  in  1837  ;  gave  the  first 
instructions  about  naval  matters  to  the  Prince  de  Joinville  ; 
created  count  in  1843;  died  in  1845  at  Suresnes  near  Paris. 
He  was  the  adoptive  father  of  Admiral  Count  Bouet-AVill- 
aumez. 

AViMPFFEX  (Georges-Felix,  Baron  dc),  born  at  Minfelden 
in  1741.  He  was  in  succession,  lieutenant  en  second  in  the 
regiment  of  Ixoyal-Deux-Ponts  in  1757  during  the  Seven 

349  Auberteuil. 

^George  Moore,  Treason  of  Lcc,  page  62. 

381  Auberteuil. 


252  The  French  in  America. 

Years'  War,  commandant  of  a  corps  of  volunteers  in  Corsica 
in  1766,  mestre  de  camp  of  the  regiment  of  Bouillon  in  1780. 
He  took  part  in  the  campaigns  of  America,  then  was  pres 
ent  at  the  sieges  of  Mahon  and  Gibraltar;  became  lieutenant- 
general  and  commandant  of  Thionville  in  1792.  No  lon 
ger  able  to  hold  the  place,  he  was  going  to  surrender  to 
the  Duke  of  Brunswick,  who  did  not  know  of  his  resolve, 
when  the  latter  offered  him  a  million  if  he  would  capitulate. 
Wimpffen  answered  :  "  I  accept  the  million  if  an  act  is  sworn 
out  before  a  notary  public."  Three  days  later,  the  20th  of 
September,  1792,  the  victory  of  Valmy  delivered  Thionville. 
Wimpifen,  having  taken  service  with  the  Girondins,  hid 
at  Bayeux  during  the  Terror.  He  was  a  witty  man,  a  brave 
soldier  and  a  brilliant  general.352 

WISCH  (Jean-Christophe,  Baron  de),  born  in  Holstein  the 
22d  of  May,  1739.  Furnisher  in  the  service  of  the  Empire 
in  1756,  captain  of  the  regiment  of  Royal-Deux-Ponts  in 
1777,  captain  of  the  grenadiers  in  1780  ;  was  wounded  at 
Yorktown  so  as  to  be  no  longer  able  to  serve.  He  received 
the  order  of  the  Cincinnati  and  the  cross  of  Military  Merit. 

WUIBERT. 

T. 

YRESOSEER,  private  in  the  regiment  of  Agenois  in  1768, 
reached  the  rank  of  officer  in  1779;  was  present  at  the  siege 
of  Yorktown. 

^Perhaps  a  relation  of  the  General  de  Wimpffen  who  signed  the 
capitulation  of  Sedan.  Marginal  note  by  T.  B. 


THE  END. 


RETURN       CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 
TQiS>       202  Main  Library 
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HOME  USE 


prior  U> 

DUE   AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


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